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Pennsylvania Beautiful 


(EASTERN) 


States Beautiful Series 


Uniform in size and general treatment with this volume 


VERMONT BEAUTIFUL 
MASSACHUSETTS BEAUTIFUL 
CONNECTICUT BEAUTIFUL 

NEW HAMPSHIRE BEAUTIFUL 
MAINE BEAUTIFUL 

PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL (Eastern) 


Bound in full cloth, gold stamping on recto and shelf 
back, with Cameo Art print jacket. 304 tllustrations. 
304 pages. Each volume $4.00 post paid. 


IN PREPARATION 
FLORIDA BEAUTIFUL 
NEW YORK BEAUTIFUL (Eastern) 


Material for other states has been gathered, but no definite 
announcement of dates 1s made. 


BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR 


FURNITURE OF THE PiLGrim CENTURY, Revised 
and Enlarged Edition, 716 pages, Cameo 
paper, 8 X II in. 

About 2000 objects are pictured 

AMERICAN WINDsoRS, 208 pages, 5% X 7 in. 
New Edition, with 22 added pictures 

THE Crock Book, 304 pages, 6% X 10 in. 
Uniform in Style and Size with the Siates 
Beautiful Series 
About 250 clocks are pictured 


OLD AMERICA COMPANY, Publishers 
FRAMINGHAM, MASS. 





Pennsylvania Beautiful 


(EASTERN) 


BY 
WALLACE NUTTING 


Author of the States Beautiful Series, etc. 


ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR WITH MANY 
EXAMPLES OF LANDSCAPES AND OLD HOUSES 
IN ALL THE COUNTIES HEREIN DESCRIBED 





FRAMINGHAM - MASSACHUSETTS 
OLD AMERICA COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 





_ CopyriGHT 1924 
By Watiace NuTTING 
All rights reserved 
THE PLIMPTON PRESS 
NORWOOD:MASS-U-S:A 
“é aj 3 ms 
oe a4 :> xy” Ai oF, *4 ‘ 





EXPLANATORY 


DO not promise the reader anything more than about three hun- 
dred pictures, mostly selected for their supposed beauty, of eastern 
Pennsylvania. We do not promise that they shall be evenly distributed 
over that section of the state. We reserve the right to show more in one 
section than in another, if time or mood or weather or the greater number 
of points of interest conduce to this arrangement. Nor do we promise that 
these pictures shall be arranged in any particular order, such as the reader 
may expect. We make these disavowals that no one may be disappointed. 
We believe that we shall be endorsed in saying that many of the pictures 
are well worth while. 

Sometimes it seems to be a disappointment that our books do not pro- 
vide a picture to a township, or something of that sort. There are many 
practical reasons why such a method has been found impossible; but a 
sufficient reason is that the book, if so composed, would not be as interest- 
ing. 

The author has spent more time in the preparation of this than in any 
of his previous books of the Srares BEauTiFuL Series. This arises from 
the fact that while nearly all parts of Pennsylvania are beautiful, except 
those given over wholly to mining, many of the most beautiful parts are 
not especially pictorial. The very perfection of cultivation in many of 
the valleys is such that there is nothing of peculiar interest to record. 

The line of demarcation which we have arbitrarily chosen to separate 
eastern from western Pennsylvania is roughly about on the longitude of 
Lebanon. There may be an occasional instance in which we go west of 
that line, and there may be occasional regions east of that line, that are 
not very fully represented. We have, however, faithfully inspected most 

of the part of Pennsylvania which we here designate “east.” We cover 


4 EXPLANATORY 


less than half of the state, because it is the older half and the more 
populous. 

Nor is this volume at all history or a story of eastern Pennsylvania. 
It is a book of pictures primarily and principally. Any observations re- 
garding these pictures are made as there may seem to be a necessity for 
them, or as the incidents of travel urge them. Let no one look, in the 
following pages, for all the famous features of eastern Pennsylvania, 
worthy to be included in the volume. That inclusion would require an 
encyclopaedia. We are giving as many illustrations as we could, con- 
sistently with the design of the series. We have the satisfaction of know- 
ing that we have discovered a great many hitherto unrecorded pictures. 
The illustrations at least have the merit, with the exception of four or 
five drawings, which will be credited in their place, of being original. 
All but a half dozen of the pictures were made in the years 1923 and. 
1924, and few of them have been seen in any other form than that in 
which they now appear. 

It has been the delight and eager purpose of the writer to get to- 
gether as many illustrations as possible of that old life in America, which 
is rapidly passing away. If, however, the reader is a resident in a neigh- 
borhood which he does not find represented in these pages, he is quite 
likely to resent the omission. Many write us expressing surprise at such 
omissions. What can we do? The inclusion of anything else would simply 
mean the exclusion of something we show. If, in process of time, this 
edition is exhausted, any further treatment of this portion of the state will 
be marked by the inclusion of new neighborhoods. This edition will be 
the only one of its kind, as in all our Srares BEAUTIFUL SERIES. 


WALLACE NUTTING 
Framingham, Massachusetts 


To 
J. STOGDELL STOKES 


WHOSE LOVE OF THE BEAUTIFUL 
ENTITLES HIM TO GENERAL REGARD 


Pennsyloania Beautiful 


PENNSYLVANIA 


T has been thought that the charm of European life consisted in the 
peculiarities of custom, costume and speech to be found within the 
limits of a single nation, as in France. It has been counted a merit and a 
peculiar distinction that America is homogeneous. While we are willing 
to see the advantage of one speech, we believe the divergence in costumes 
and habits in various parts of America adds very much to the interest 
of the traveler. We have known more than one notable clergyman who 
seemed to derive advantage from his Scotch or Irish brogue. The Pennsyl- 
vanian born is quick to remark on the nasal Yankee speech and certain 
odd pronunciations, which latter, however, are in the best use in England. 
Pennsylvania has a distinct charm owing to settlements by the Swedes, 
Dutch, and Germans who have retained many delightful characteristics 
now being brought out, too late, in our literature. The peculiar branches 
of the Christian church found in Pennsylvania, as the Moravians or Men- 
nonites, also give a flavor very grateful in the ordinary tameness of 
American life. 

The architectural features of the country life of Pennsylvania, as re- 
tained from old world customs, set it apart from all other American ex- 
periences. Their wonderful barns with stone ends and overhang on one 
side; stone houses so often dated; post and rail fences so neatly lining 
their roads to this day and renewed, contrary to all economic laws; their 

7 


8 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


characteristic vehicles, furniture and household decorations, —all contribute 
to the fascination of eastern Pennsylvania. 

The fertile, rolling lands of this part of the state are a perfect setting 
for an ideal country life. We regard with highest respect the persistent 
holding in one family for many generations of a home place, kept in the 
pink of condition. Unquestionably this section of our country is the best 
ordered part of America. True, no extensive region is without its shift- 
less farmers, yet there is less of neglect and a more general pride apparent 
in keeping the premises shipshape in Pennsylvania than we see elsewhere. 

When we turn our attention to the great suburban district around 
Philadelphia, a district which reaches out its fingers for very many miles 
in some directions, we are vastly impressed by the number, the size, the 
solidity, the taste, and the richness of the dwellings. Although Long 
Island has developed of late years a very rich and extensive suburban 
neighborhood, this is marked, sometimes, by a certain splurge, a certain | 
tasteless and loud type of structures, which disturb the eye and distress 
the thought still more, when we consider what this means. 

In Pennsylvania there has been a more careful attention to the harmo- 
nizing of dwelling with country landscape. There is a quieter tone 
and a better taste generally manifest in this suburban district than we 
find in others. Furthermore, the stability and obvious intention of per- 
manence conveyed by the Pennsylvania homesteads is most satisfying. 
Anything which makes for peace in a country landscape is of the highest 
importance, for that is what American life needs most. Anything that 
makes for permanence appeals to that sense of the eternal which is so 
little exemplified by modern civilization. 

The Pennsylvanian has been very adroit in his study of country life. 
He understands how to give the impression of a great farm as a going in- 
stitution which has always been in being, although perhaps the entire es- 
tablishment is comparatively recent. He seeks to avoid the impression 
that he is merely a city man importing his notions into the country districts. 
He has successfully studied the methods and the farmsteads of the men 












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10 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


who have lived on the soil for many generations. While the farm build- 
ings may be somewhat better than those found on the average farm, they 
are carefully toned to convey the delightful impression of usefulness, as 
if the owner derived his living from the soil. 

In a great many instances, also, those who have heard the call back 
to the land have had the good fortune or the good taste, or both, to ac- 
quire again the acres that were tilled by their own families, generations 
before. They have slightly adapted or tastefully enlarged what they 
found, so as to keep that charming sense of continuity which is the rarest 
and most desirable impression that can be afforded in rural life. The pre- 
vailing tints of gray or brown appeal to our historic sense. Any man who 
sees a comely woman in a brown gown, especially in a brown apron, at 
once feels that life justifies itself, and that here is the centre of home 
life. The Friends undoubtedly chose their gray gowns from motives 
of modesty and humility. However, since they were human, they could 
not long have remained ignorant of the fascination in soft silken gray. 
A dwelling, matched by barns and walls of soft brown or gray stone 
carries out the tone in which humanity is garbed. We feel the absolute 
appropriateness of the people, the dwellings, and the landscapes to one 
another. The best features of Germanic home life, permeated by a serene 
religion, have spread themselves over large areas of eastern Pennsylvania, 
and give a powerful impression that here a people, under sensible laws, and 
governed by proper ambitions, have developed a society which holds most 
of the features desirable ‘and possible of attainment in country life. 

We wish that the same predicate might be applied to the villages and 
smaller cities. In these, however, the dwellings, so generally flush with 
the sidewalk, have lost that retired and individual sense of cosiness which 
they might have obtained. Doubtless there is, more or less, a lack of 
aesthetic impulse in many of the villages of the district among such as 
think almost exclusively of material things. We feel the absence of 
poetry in the town. 

There is, in Pennsylvania, an almost uniformly rugged and hearty 


IVNVO F2AUVMVIAG—wWO0'! SZHL ONIHOVOUddAYV 





SMOTIVHS AOVOONOW PTAATU NAW OLAS d —Aoadiad ANOLS AHL MOTE 








PIGEON BROOK BANKS 





BETWEEN BUTTONWOOD BANKS-—BROAD HEAD CREEK 


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A GROSS ROAD——-N EAR) PH idea Dp hie H.s 





PERKIOMEN RIVER 


PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTY 





THE READING LINKS 


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NOILVYOOXd NOMOIHVSSIM 


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A LAKE BANK DRIV E——-N EARN OR ERIS coon 


PENNSYLVANIA 19 


physique. The sturdiness of the people gives an impression of capacity 
to overcome natural obstacles. We cannot keep from our minds the most 
ancient command to grow, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. 
The Pennsylvanian type suggests a man built for dominion over the earth. 
A farm is like a vigorous horse, in that it requires a steady and continuous 
master hand. The fickle and volatile may write books, may make music 
and drama. A countryside is rendered sweet and homelike only by gen- 
erations of steadiness in effort. The most valuable citizen is he who has 
his stake in the land and has the determination to make good. This is 
the citizen who in the mutations of generations keeps a country from silly 
moods and worse vagaries. There is not a bit of anarchy in the typical 
Pennsylvanian. He impresses us as intending to make the most of his 
surroundings, and with no disposition to spurn them and to follow vague 
dreams and dangerous experiments. An amazingly clear setting forth of 
the love of the land has recently appeared in The Lantern on the Plow, 
a work referring to New Jersey, but as appropriate for Pennsylvania. 

From all this it follows that the beauty of the countryside in Penn- 
sylvania is distinct from that of other regions. It is never wild nor ter- 
rible. It is neither garish nor odd. It imparts a sense of plenty, of love 
for the land ingrained in the people who dwell upon it, and of their ability 
to make good where they are. There is no part of America where the 
people and the soil fit as they seem to do in Pennsylvania. 

It is beyond our province to go largely into the persistence of the 
German speech. That phase is rapidly passing away. Meantime it has 
given a strong flavor to the life of the region, and inevitably certain char- 
acteristic names of pure German origin will continue. These names will 
establish themselves in the titles of pictures, for they are attached to many 
of the attractive features of Pennsylvanian life. 

A very striking peculiarity of Pennsylvania is the early use and knowl- 
edge of iron. Quaint forms of household hardware and utensils are 
found in Pennsylvania in large numbers, and there alone. The smith 
was an honored personage. He remembered the lore of the Black Forest. 


20 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


He shaped, in his iron, reminiscences of the Old World. This feature 
imparted a greater efficiency to the work of the housewife and the farm. 
There were utensils and devices in iron for every possible sort of work. 
These forms make themselves evident even outside the dwellings, and in 
every great kitchen. That is to say, the Pennsylvanian was not merely a 
farmer; he was, very often, from early times, also a metal worker. We 
have therefore a grafting on of metallurgy to agriculture such as to give 
a peculiar tone to the life of the state. Recently, of course, the wealth 
of the world has been poured into Pennsylvania in the tremendous de- 
velopment of steel. We, however, are thinking more of the earlier time, 
which in its use of cast and wrought iron imparted a special feature to 
the life of the state, before things were done so much at wholesale and 
before personality passed out of production. 

Among the best and most delightful permanent productions of Ameri- 
can life are the votive offerings in iron by the young man of Pennsylvania 
to the goddess of his affection. Until quite recent years they have not been 
generally known. Now, however, their appeal is broadening. The house- 
wife also, by her needle and wheel and loom, specialized on the lines of 
her ancestors; and nowhere is there such a wealth of goods and gear in 
linen and woollen as is found in the home of an old Pennsylvanian family. 
The love of decoration is strongly entrenched here. While on the main 
lines the daughters have followed the lead of their mothers, yet the crea- 
tive feeling is strong and, now and then, the theme of the past is played 
with pleasing modern variations. Whether we regard the external life 
of the farm as apparent in the fences, the barns and the dwellings, or the 
interior of the home, as created by the housewife, we find an intensity of 
love for good forms. This is the more remarkable as this trait seems 
singularly lacking in the smooth older life of New England, except as 
regards its architecture. 

We observe with great delight recent literature which enshrines in a 
very skilful manner these fine and distinctive features of Pennsylvanian 
life. Such literature, by carrying the knowledge of these features of life 
through the country, is not only pleasing but enriching to us all. 


PENNSYLVANIA 21 






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A BLOSSOMING GABLE, ROOSEVELT BOULEVARD 


There is probably a stronger local pride in Pennsylvania than is to 
be found in any other part of America. Particularly the proximity of 
New York, with its tremendous commercial development, has stimulated 
Pennsylvania to cherish and make much of its own local traditions. 

We must think of the settlements on both sides of the Delaware River 
as quite similar in their origins, traditions, and customs. Often the Penn- 
sylvanian type is also the West Jersey type. The very early settlements 
of the Swedes and Dutch were overlaid by the larger settlements under 
Penn. Thus we have, in the architecture and customs of the region, a 
blending of pleasing features of the better sort, which are scarcely found 
elsewhere in America. 

In particular we cannot fail to observe the strong racial or religious 
motives in architecture. There is the severe plainness of the Mennonite 
meeting houses; the quiet but somewhat more decorative type of the 

[Text continued on page 27.| 


PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 
By Mitprep Hosss 


Cool stone houses of the hills, 
Bowered in the bloom of spring; 
Browsing flocks of snow-white sheep; 
Sweeping fields, bright-blue with flax; 
Miles of green where cattle graze; 
Miles of rippling, rustling corn; 
Miles of tinted buckwheat bloom; 
Winding rivers and canals 

Where a thousand boats ply! 

Great stone quarries of the hills, 
Gray and ocher, red and blue; 

Beds of buried ancient trees 
Sparkling coal to warm the world; 
Strong wide rivers, deep and long, 
Where a thousand boats ply! 
Alleghany’s dancing blue, 

The historic Delaware 

Lying low among the hills, 

And the lovely Susquehanna 
Flowing past the tiny houses 

And the mammoth bursting barns 
Of the Pennsylvania Dutch 

And the quiet Quaker folk; 
Wooded mountains, music-filled 
With the glancing falls and streams 
Where the creatures of the wild 
Come to drink at setting sun; 
Sacred ground of Gettysburg, 
Brandywine and Valley F oe 
This is Pennsylvania, 


Iron-bound and beautiful! 
22 


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A PENNSYLVANIA COTTAGE 


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THE BEAUTIFUL PERKIOMEN 








A PERKIOMEN OCTOBER 


PENNSYLVANIA yy 


Friends’ meeting houses; the more architecturally pretentious edifices of 
the Moravians with their tasteful iron work; and, last of all, the beautiful 
English type of the Georgian period, used in their dwellings by the Friends 
and other English settlers. 

It is said that there were at one time in the late seventeenth century, ten 
thousand German emigrants waiting in a camp near London for trans- 
portation to the Delaware. These persons desired to avail themselves of 
the liberal charter under which Penn welcomed settlers. New England 
had nothing comparable to this except the little government under the 
inspiration of Roger Williams in Rhode Island. Too little emphasis has 
been placed in history on the fact that Pennsylvania, even more than New 
England, was a refuge from religious bigotry, and that its government 
was administered on broader lines of religious liberty than ever obtained 
in New England. 

In addition to the elements already mentioned, there was also a Hugue- 
not contingent. The Germanic strain was so strong that it dominated and 
still continues to dominate many Pennsylvania valleys. In New Jersey 
also, one of the most charming and extensive agricultural districts was 
named German Valley, unwisely changed during the bitterness of the late 
war to Long Valley. 

The German habit of conserving language and custom worked in Penn- 
sylvania against the homogeneity of the population. The persistent habit 
of the English of maintaining their own speech and political traditions 
found in the German settlers a parallel. In a new country, the population 
of a district being almost exclusively Germanic, many neighborhoods main- 
tain, even to this day, a strong racial flavor. One may still meet, on 
Pennsylvania thoroughfares in the smaller towns, those who cannot speak 
English, although they are descendants of settlers who came here more 
than two hundred years ago. 

One feature of much picturesqueness is a beehive oven, seen here and 
there projecting from a house end supported on corbels of masonry. We 
were unsuccessful in recording pictorially this charming feature. Stone 
watering troughs are another feature. 


28 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


PENNSYLVANIA BARNS 


HE ornaments on barns found in Pennsylvania, and to some small 
extent in West Jersey, go by the local name of hexafoos, or witch 
foot. They are a decoration sometimes applied on the door heads or on 
or about the door. They are supposed to be a continuance of very ancient 
tradition, according to which these decorative marks were potent to pro- 
tect the barn, or more particularly the cattle, from the influence of witches. 
It is understood by those who are acquainted with witches that those ladies 
are particularly likely to harm cattle. As the wealth of the farmer was 
in his stock, contained in his remarkably substantial barn, the hexafoos 
was added to its decoration as a kind of spiritual or demoniac lightning- 
rod! 
Candor compels the admission that these cabalistic marks on barns were 
a simpler and more humane measure against witches than those which 
were adopted in New England. If by a swastika sign on a door or a fore- 
bay, the power of a witch on the building concerned could be averted, 
there was no need of hanging the witch, and the danger of hanging some 
excellent old lady under wrong apprehensions was avoided. At the same 
time, such effects as were produced by these decorations added to the 
quaintness and character of the countryside. In Pennsylvania the favorite 
door motive on a dwelling or on the small end door of a barn, shown on 
page 9, is very effective. The support of these triangular door caps was 
secured by running the floor timbers through the walls, and extending 
them to the desired length where they formed the basis of the canopy. 
The Dutch door below is an ancient motive now copied with much gusto, 
not only in colonial Dutch houses but in many others where it has no 
place. 
A variation of this motive appears on page 29, where the Black Horse 
tavern entrance on the old Baltimore pike is sketched. Here also we have, 
blended with the door head, the famous characteristic water table found 


ee 








PENNSYLVANIA BARNS 29 







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BLACK HORSE TAVERN, BALTIMORE PIKE 


on the gables and the sides of many of the earlier Pennsylvania stone 
dwellings and, in this instance, extended to the width of a porch. (See 
also page 102.) Here the door head proper is arched below and sup- 
ported on corbels. This really very attractive scheme is worthy of all the 
imitation which it has received of late years, and is commendable in that 
it dispenses with the posts, always annoying and always decaying. In this 
sketch, also, we have a good example of the cathedral chimney, that is, 


30 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 










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TATAMY 4 MI. DOORWAY, BETHLEHEM 


the pointed Gothic arch over each chimney flue, here rising to the num- 
ber of four, which is the largest number we have so far observed. The 
shutter downstairs is, in Pennsylvania, almost uniformly solid and pan- 
elled. The thought remains from the middle ages of using the shutter 
for protection from thieves, rather than as a screen against the sun. We 
see this solid shutter frequently on new houses in Pennsylvania. The 
hardware which fastens together or holds open these shutters is often 
quaint and elaborate. Upstairs, in the earliest examples, we frequently 
find the solid shutter but, sometimes as in this case, there is a lattice com- 
monly called a blind in the North. This is, of course, wholly for pro- 
tection against the sun or intrusive eyes. 





PENNSYLVANIA BARNS 31 


The characteristic features of the barns erected by the German set- 
tlers were their stone construction, their forebays with their painted deco- 
rations which sometimes extended also to the doors on the opposite side, 
and to the ends. The features peculiar to theses decorations were a painted 
scalloped border, sometimes all about the side of the forebay, and some- 
times only at the bottom, as seen on page 41. The windows were then 
decorated with painted arches, drops and balls, and sometimes, as on page 
41, such a decoration was outlined where no window existed. But the 
outstanding feature most generally observed is a large circle with an in- 
scribed star or with Gothic segmental lines. Sometimes the tracery was 
as intricate as that of a great Gothic rose window in a cathedral. There 
is an immense variation in these designs. Sometimes it is in a spiral form 
and again it radiates like a sunburst. The colors are always brilliant and 
unsparingly laid on. Time has softened the shade, but originally the 
effect was startlingly brilliant. According to the size of the barns, the 
series of wheels extends in number to six or possibly more. It often hap- 
pens that the painter sought to show his skill, or to give greater interest, 
by varying the designs as on page 73, alternating the first with the third, 
the second with the fourth and so on. The six pointed star seems to be 
more popular than stars of other sorts. This appears on page 85, where 
also the effect of the forebay, open beneath, is well shown. 

A four-door barn with simple decorations appears on page 61, with the 
smaller doors for daily use set into the great doors used only for the loads 
of hay or grain. 

The eight pointed star seen on page 73 is a reminder of the geometric 
design worked out in moldings on English chests which, of course, in turn 
derive their inspiration from the Continent. The designs with curves, 
such as the second and fourth on page 73, are curiously enough seen on 
painted and carved boxes of about the year 1700, which boxes, however, 
seem to be found almost wholly in New England. There must be some 
exceptions to this statement, as the decoration on the boxes is plainly 
Frisian. We have been unable to connect the motive used on the boxes 


32 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


with that on the barns, but it would be rational to suppose that the furni- 
ture would be found where the barns were painted. 

If, however, we take note of the painted Pennsylvania chests, we find 
the motives upon them to be in some cases similar to the decorations on 
the barns. It is very seldom, however, that the tulip design, so great a 
favorite on Pennsylvanian painted furniture, is seen on a barn and if so, 
it is always verging to some mysterious convention which leads us to won- 
der whether indeed it is designed to represent the tulip. The colors, how-_ 
ever, are the same on barns and chests, because both used all the colors 
there were. Where, as in some instances, the decoration was carried on 
the end of the barn, as on page 97, it is merely to endeavor to atone for 
having the wooden construction instead of the stone end. Where, as on 
page 105, the arches of the windows interlace and are also carried over 
doors beneath them, the decoration becomes interestingly elaborate. The 
finest features of the barn decoration perhaps are, after all, not the painted 
work we have been describing, but the openings in the barn ends designed 
for ventilation, and affording no little opportunity for design. The com- 
monest scheme is perhaps some variant of circular design, stones of a dif- 
ferent color being used, set like spokes of a wheel around an opening. 
Frequently, however, there is terra cotta or brick work laid with spaces, 
such as we sometimes see under the porches of dwellings. A general de- 
sign like the letter X is not uncommon. In instances a declension is noted 
by which fixed lattices of wood appear in the barn ends, outlined as win- 
dows in spacing and size. 

We thought it worth while to show no less than seven variants in our 
pictures of these barn decorations, but even so we omit many other forms. 

We are not clear as to the purpose of the forebay, which is formed by 
the laying of a basement wall under the wooden side of a barn so as to 
form an open bay, recess, or porch about five feet deep. Of course such 
a space afforded protection from the drip, drip of the eaves but, as it was 
not wide enough to protect the cattle unless they ranged themselves longi- 
tudinally along the wall, we presume it to have been a convenience to the 





Pap. 
oi 






7 


(Above) sT. PETER’S CHURCH, 
LANCASTER 


(At right) TRINITY LUTHERAN 
CHURCH, READING 








34 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


farmer in passing from one to another of the various doors entering the 
compartments behind them. 

The ends of these barns were often three feet in thickness and this 
massive construction was continued to the eaves, at least, and often to the 
very peaks of the gables. This masonry is so solid that when the wood 
of the barns has decayed or burned, the three walls are often left intact. 
As one approaches a village on the south bank of the Schuylkill, near 
Pottstown, ruins like those of a castle appear, half covered with ivy. 
The author said to his companion as he rode along, “ Notice that you are 
passing Kenilworth.” Within a few rods what should we see at the road- 
side but the name of the village, Kenilworth, the existence of which we 
had been ignorant of. In this instance the barn ruins were of red sand- 
stone. For the most part these structures are of limestone, usually quar- 
ried on the farm itself or at a point seldom more than a mile away. The 
lime also, from the same rock, was burned in the immediate vicinity. A 
common roadside feature in Pennsylvania is an old lime kiln by the road- 
side, and built into a high bank, so that the loads of stone could be drawn 
on the upper grade to the open top of the kiln. We confess to a thorough 
admiration of the people who used so well the materials within their 
reach, adapted so thoroughly to their use. Thus the same stone burned 
as lime, or used in blocks, provided the entire wall structure. The pride 
of the farmer in his barn was further often shown not only in the decora- 
tions we have described, but by the addition of two large paintings, a horse 
and a cow facing one another on the side of the barn, and having between 
them a great American flag. Sometimes a third painting showed a sturdy 
cock. The farmer’s name was then painted above or below all. He thus 
set forth his occupation and his patriotism, with naive joy, and the name 
answered instead of a door plate on his dwelling. His wealth was in his 
barn, his cattle, and his golden sheaves, and where his treasure was, there 
was his heart also. As in all good farming countries, any good farmer 
would be ashamed if his barn were not vastly larger than his dwelling. 
Indeed, it was the most stinging condemnation of any man to say that his 


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ON THE DELAWARE NEAR EASTON 


A GOLDEN BAY 


THE PARADISE VALLEY BROOK 





PENNSYLVANIA BARNS 39 


house was larger than his barn. It was as much as to call him impractical 
and extravagant and silly, and therefore on the way to ruin. 

If we were to make any adverse criticism upon the dwellings of Penn- 
sylvania, it would be that they often have a considerable height at the 
expense of breadth of base. That is to say, we find too many dwellings 
that are only one room deep, a construction, which in a house of two stories, 
always produces an effect of instability, lack of charm, and seems to quar- 
rel with the otherwise substantial surroundings. One does not notice this 
elsewhere as much as at the outskirts of villages where a dwelling contain- 
ing only one room on a floor produces an exceedingly distressing appear- 
ance. Frequently detached dwellings are constructed without windows in 
the sides, as if they were copied from old world houses built solidly in 
blocks. The absurdity of this structure in the open country is very much 
emphasized. 

In general, however, the character of the dwellings in Pennsylvania 
may be fairly said to exceed in size, solidity, and general merit those seen 
in any other part of America. It is true that in the interior there is often 
lacking a fine taste and elaboration of paneling, stair, and mantel, found 
elsewhere. This criticism, however, is more specious than valid, for the 
solid and large structure has led the investigator to look for fine details 
within the walls. We should rather commend the builder for devoting 
his attention to the substantial portions of his edifice. We should not 
forget that these dwellings are simply farm houses and are vastly better, 
even in the interior, than the New England farm house. The outside is 
so good that we are led to the error of looking for such an interior as we 
could fairly expect to find only in the dwellings of persons of cultivation 
and wealth in the cities. We have heard the criticism that, even in the 
cities, the elaboration of detail found in New England, and perhaps in 
New York, is not usual. Our own inspection of urban dwellings has not 
been so extensive as to lead to any intelligent indorsement of the criticism. 
From our present knowledge we incline to the belief that we too often 
look for elaborateness where we are fortunate in finding solid simplicity. 


40 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


The amazing fact is that the early Pennsylvania farmer erected a bet- 
ter and a larger dwelling than we find anywhere else in such numbers. 
The external features of these structures were rendered far more inter- 
esting by the water table on the gable. It was shingled or slated, possibly, 
and was a foot or two in diameter, and frequently it was repeated between 
the first and second story. A fine instance of this water table appears on 
page 65, in the old Brown house a few miles south of Quarryville, which 
is in turn south of Lancaster. This dwelling, with its solid lean-to hav- 
ing a special chimney, stepped or buttressed above the roof, is one of the 
most interesting of the simpler dwellings we have observed. Its wide 
door in the lean-to, its sheathed paneling on two floors within, its very 
long, large, closely set and planed floor timbers, without summer beams, 
a characteristic of New .York and Pennsylvania construction, give us alto- 
gether a remarkable old dwelling. We notice that the original hardware 
also had a good deal of character, even the thumb piece of a latch being 
worked in the heart motive. When, as another attraction of this fine old 
dwelling, we add that it is one story higher on the front than on the back, 
where it has a grade door on the second story, that it possesses vast fire- 
places of stone and mysterious crypts, we have intrigued the reader as far 
as we dare. To give the dwelling completion, one of the most majestic 
buttonwoods we have ever seen grows in front of the main door, so as, in 
our picture, completely to obscure it. The massiveness of this great bole 
seems to tell us that it and the dwelling grew together and will continue 
to support one another. The ancient well beneath the tree and the flag- 
stones about, with the farm bell in the rear, complete the setting. This 
dwelling is some Sabbath day’s journey south from the house where Robert 
Fulton was born, which we also show at the bottom of page 88. It is true 
that Fulton left here as a child, but it would seem fitting in some way to 
mark the spot as a memorial, even if the entire homestead is not taken 
over by the state and made a marine museum. 

The oldest house in Lancaster County, not very far distant, is too small 
and simple, and too lacking in special features to be of importance. 





PENNSYLVANIA BARNS 41 


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A DECORATED BARN, LEHIGH COUNTY 


The bridges of Pennsylvania give an air of age and stability to a 
countryside. They are generally of stone, and so are inclined to follow 


long, sweeping curves quite like the bridges in Spain. We never tire of 
their fascination. 

The bridge over the Delaware at Washington’s Crossing is unhappily 
not of this sort but, as he was obliged to use boats, the matter is not so 
important. 

We noticed a bridge somewhat northeast of Lebanon, in which the 
central stone containing the names of the builders and their date was pre- 
cisely the shape of an arch topped tombstone, as if it had been set in the 
wall to make it more permanent. We understand this stone is shortly to 
be destroyed by the widening of the bridge. Modern silos of stone are 
an added feature of architectural permanence. 

The community of Ephrata is one of those features of Pennsylvania 
life which has attracted a great deal of attention, perhaps owing to its 
unusualness. The quaint old buildings, a sketch of which we show on 
page 125, and the interesting community which existed at Ephrata and 
which has for the most part passed away, are set forth in a little book on 

[Text continued on page 52.| 


THE BRANDYWINE BATTLE SITE 
Written for picture on page 45 by Mitprep Hosss 


Soft clouds of leaning April willows shine 
Like silver gauze upon the mirrored stream; 
The springtime breezes play their happy theme 
Through budding trees along the Brandywine; 
And on the river's ragged banks recline 
Contented cattle sent to browse and dream 
Among the violets; and grasses gleam 

Like points of fuckering fire upon a shrine. 


Fair trees, deep-rooted in a bloodied sod, 

New life absorbed from sacrifice divine, 

And pleasant pastures of historic fame, 

Long may your beauty breathe the peace of God! 
O blood-red waters of the Brandywine, 
How crimson are your pools of sunset-flame! 


42 


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DREAM LANE 
Written for picture on page 47 by Mitprep Hoszs 


Little bird-enchanted lane 

Leading down to Valley Forge, 

Tell us of the long ago! | 

Did he pass along your way, 

The father of our country, 

Pausing here beneath the blossoms hanging low 
To pray . 

To the God of nature’s peace and love and beauty? 
As he lingered here and listened 

To the brooklet running gold 

Over singing stones that glistened 

In the sun 

Was he told 

That his battles would be won? 

Little lane, bird-enchanted, 

In a winding such as this 

Where the trees and meadows bloom and waters gleam 
Did he dream 

Of a glorious republic? 

How he suffered with his patriots 

Through bitterness of winter, 

Waiting long, 

And patiently holding to his heart the vision 

Of a@ nation free and strong! 

Valley Forge where men and boys 

Bleeding, starving and exhausted, bravely fell — 
And not in vain! 

But the tragedy and pain — 

Little lane, 

If you could only tell! 


5t 


52 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


The Ephrata Cloister. The edifices make no pretention to architectural 
merit. They are peculiar only in that they include within them all the 
appurtenances for an independent existence. The people of this commu- 
nity made practically everything that they possessed. Their culinary and 
textile utensils and apparatus are of very great interest. A great many 
of the utensils have been sold but now a stop has been put to such sales, 
and the things that remain are well worth seeing. The simple faith and 
pure life of these people is a pleasant memory. The fact that in Penn- 
sylvania they were welcome to develop according to their special tenets 
speaks well for the largeness of spirit already accorded by the government 
of that state from the first. 

The life of the community in its cloister resembled the monastic. 
While marriage was not impossible it was not thought to be conducive 
to the highest spiritual state, and only that portion of the community that 
remained single were residents in the brothers’ or in the sisters’ edifice. 
This Seventh Day Baptist organization continued the use of the German 
tongue, published theological and other works, and has left a strong im- 
press on the life of the state. On page 289 we show the tombstone of 
Bruder Philemon, one of the oldest in the cemetery. 

The idea of a Protestant cloister, carried out in the lives of these 
people resembles, in some particulars at least, the communities of Shakers 
in Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. It is an interesting phase 
of American colonial life which gives a strong flavor to the rural districts 
of Pennsylvania. We would not give the impression that the activities of 
the Seventh Day Baptists have ceased in Pennsylvania. In Waynes- 
borough there is a flourishing church. There is another at Salemville. 
At Nunnery in Franklin County there is an interesting old graveyard, now 
used for general interments. It contains the grave of Peter Lehman, the 
supposed founder of the Snow Hill Institute. 

The date of this society’s activities in America is early. The religious 
institution of Ephrata was founded about 1730. 

Ephrata is a pilgrimage point for tourists. We regard with great re- 








PENNSYLVANIA BARNS 53 


uid : 





Fe ee ghia 
Neuf too teh a8” eG tees, 
A FINE OLD CHESTER DWELLING 


spect the conscientious devotion of the founders of its peculiar organiza- 
tion, and enjoy the strong relish of the quaint customs and simple living 
handed down through them. For instance, to mention only one point, 
the cloister dwellers slept with wooden pillows on bare boards, to mortify 
the body. They objected to the intrusion of civil government and were 
sustained in their religious position by Washington. An interesting epi- 
sode was the visit of Peter Miller, one of the early worthies of this or- 
ganization, to Washington, in behalf of a Tory spy who was condemned 
under the laws of war. Washington informed Miller that nothing could 
be done for the spy. ‘“ Friend,” exclaimed Miller, “he is the worst 
enemy I have.” ‘ Then,” said Washington, “how can you ask for his 
pardon? ” Whereupon Miller, with tears in his eyes, replied, “ My 
Savior did as much for me.” ‘The spy was pardoned because of Miller’s 


54 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


meek, forgiving spirit, and the episode was commemorated in a poem. In 
the history of religions we find, here and there, men of the utmost devo- 
tion who are, perhaps, more or less handicapped by peculiar customs which 
have no necessary connection with character. 


A RURAL PARADISE 
W* think this name fairly applicable to Wayne County. With its 
h 


undred lakes, its mountains and deep valleys, its numerous streams 
and falls, its farms like eyries, overlooking valleys of peace, it has a de- 
light in store for all those who love to roam in the real country. In 
populous Pennsylvania Wayne County’s largest town, Honesdale, has only 
two or three thousand people, though the solidity of its dwellings, the 
beauty of its square and the Hollandlike aspect of its river flowing through 
the town give the impression of a large and beautiful centre. As the old 
terminus of a great canal, it probably looked forward to greater commer- 
cial development, which happily did not come, or has gone. As one 
stands on its bridge and faces the great cliff overlooking the town, he 
derives an impression that he stands in a secluded valley of beauty, a kind 
of miniature American Vale of Cashmere. Here in a hostelry covered 
with ivy and looking out on churches of stone, one feels apart from those 
raw roadside taverns so characteristic of most of the state. The dear little 
river all up and down the valley poses for its picture at every turn. The 
fine green slopes call one to the wide, free visions to be had from their 
summits. The elm tree, which does not show at its best in the more 
southern sections of Pennsylvania, gives a real New England aspect to 
Wayne and Susquehanna counties. Indeed, the height, the contour and 
the vegetation of Wayne County very strongly suggest Vermont. If 
we pause to remember that the hills of both regions are a part of the same 
Appalachian system, we shall understand better the similarity. 
The paucity of lakes in some parts of Pennsylvania seems to be fully 





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VALLEY FORGE 





MAY ON THE WISSAHICKON 


A RURAL PARADISE 59 


atoned for in this county. The attraction of these lakes is the greater, 
that they are not yet surrounded with the tawdry dwellings so character- 
istic of American watering places. In fact, most of them are hidden away 
in the hills and are entirely unappropriated. 

There is a charm in such landscapes which could not, by old methods 
of conveyance, be fully appreciated. In the old days, when it was neces- 
sary for a weary horse to drag one toilsomely to the higher slopes, hill 
homes were handicapped in their enjoyment, but now the new methods 
of locomotion make nothing of these grades, and one swiftly arrives at a 
vantage point from which the delights of the long, deep valley with its 
silver stream are opened to us. This region is the perfection of location 
for fruits. The peculiar appeal to us just now is this: we have here the 
last available eastern county of Pennsylvania to be possessed by the lovers 
of landscape beauty. It isa little too far from great cities to be the dwell- 
ing of those who must every day go to town. Here, therefore, for a very 
modest sum, one who loves the country may become possessed of a site 
as perfect as one could wish, for health, for outlook, for land available to 
produce the wealth of the hills. For here, even in Pennsylvania, we see 
quite occasionally an abandoned farm. It is seldom that one observes in 
this country the great solid substantial homesteads seen in more southern 
regions of the state. It has in the past been too difficult to go to and re- 
turn from market. There is many a wonderful, strategic location decorated 
by the beauty of trees, backed by mighty hills, descending by far winding 
roads to the distant towns and altogether alluring and satisfactory. Con- 
sider that here is a county with more than twenty towns —and fewer than 
thirty thousand people. We are far from every annoyance, on many 
of these roads, of poles, wires, noise, dust, and the multitudinous horrors 
of a crowded civilization. We have never felt any temptation to become 
the lords of domains in the broad, fertile lowlands. But here is a little 
kingdom on every hillside which rouses every old hankering after the 
land, that remains in the old Adam. Our fingers itch and our brains tingle 
to get at work upon one of these tempting hill farms. For be it known, 


60 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


this is not a kingdom of rough, rocky land. There are fine, fertile fields 
or areas which may be made so, on every farm. There are materials at 
hand for permanent dwellings which may embody every modern comfort 
and every ancient charm. 

We do not know how long it will be before the farseeing will carry 
out the almost universal love for a country home, at once protected and 
sightly, such as is to be found in this wonderful county. It can be only 
a question of a short generation before the merits now overlooked will be 
sought and cherished and developed. Once let the tide of improvement 
begin, and this county may easily become the first in the state for ideal 
development. 

Susquehanna County is, in part, on the main track of north and south 
travel. It shares with Wayne County some of the merits which we have 
been describing, of which elsewhere. 

Wayne is evidently a poets’ and theologians’ county. These names, 
scarcely believable, are actually villages marked on the map: in the north, 
Autumn Leaves, Starlight, and Hiawatha; and in the south, Angels. The 
Moosic range in this county rises to the dignified height of twenty-five 
hundred feet, so that the reader may see that our ecstasy in regard to 
these sharp rising hills is borne out by the statistical elevations. That the 
settlers really thought themselves in a land of milk and honey is seen in | 
such names as Galilee, Bethany and Damascus. 


THE SUSQUEHANNA 


O long ago that we do not care to reckon it, an old steel engraving 
hung on the walls of our boyhood home “ Hunting on the Susque- 
hanna.” It has been one of our ambitions to follow this stream in its 
upper reaches. In general it may be said that the nearer we approach its © 
mouth, the less interesting does it become. We may have occasion, in 
another volume, to record some of its aspects in its wide western sweep. 





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THE SUSQUEHANNA 61 
































































































































































































































































































































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QUADRUPLE BARN DOORS 


Following it upward in its eastern and northern branches, through the 
counties of Luzerne, Lackawanna, Bradford and Susquehanna, we have 
learned to love it more and more as we reach its narrower windings. We 
overlook the dereliction of the stream in slying away out of the state: to 


_ flirt with New York. After all, it is faithful, for the most part, to Penn- 


sylvania. From its first meanderings between Wayne and Susquehanna 
Counties, we have shown it in this volume at Starruca, Susquehanna, 
Hickory Grove, Hallstead, Tunkhannock, Wilkes-Barre, Shickshinny and 
other points. There are, indeed, sections where mining has rendered it 
no longer beautiful. A companion, seeing ducks swimming in water laden 
with fine black coal dust, suddenly remarked that he saw now where the 
egg coal came from! We are obliged to have coal, and we would not be 
found among those constantly twitting on the unloveliness which inevi- 
tably accompanies the mining of this element, which is really the great 
national boon of Pennsylvania to the world. We are bound to state, also, 
that when we consider the vast quantities of coal mined, we are gratified to 


62 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


find, very near the centres of this enterprise, rural beauties of the highest 
merit, such as may be found in the ride from Nanticoke, a little below 
Wilkes-Barre, to Tunkhannock, and various regions northeast, north, and 
northwest of that place. Sometimes one has merely to go over one rise 
of land from a blackened coal centre, to find oneself in a countryside as 
quiet, sweet and perfect as could be found in a state where no coal exists. 

Some confusion arises from the various names given to the con- 
tributary streams of the Susquehanna. Thus we have the East Branch, 
the North Branch, etc., the main streams coming together at Sunbury, 
whence southerly the river is so large and broad as to become majestic. To 
our thought a subordinate stream such as appears in “ A Perfect Day,” 
page 294, or in “The Young Susquehanna,” page 274, is more pleasurable 
to view, or at least to picture, than the broader effects such as are seen 
at Nanticoke, page 282. 

Susquehanna County contains much fine scenery, as on the Great 
Bend, page 274, and as on the Susquehanna river, page 293, which passing 
on the great trunk line to Binghamton and the north, one sees at the right. 

The village of Montrose, and in fact various towns in this northeast 
corner of the state, present a park-like effect since their dwellings stand 
well back from the highway, and are beautifully ornamented with trees. 

New Milford has become a considerable center for guests. In parts 
it is very attractive. No doubt in time, Wayne County, which is not far 
away, will derive similar benefits from the discoveries that will be made 
there in the next decade. 


WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA COUNTIES 


T is difficult to comprehend that these counties alone contain perhaps 
greater mineral wealth than the entire kingdom of Italy. Pennsyl- 
vania, in fact, is the finest example the world holds of a region rich in 
all the essentials of a modern civilization. The magnificent farmlands 








WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA COUNTIES 63 

















A LEHIGH COUNTY HOMESTEAD 


come to the bases of the mountains, which contain the sinews of peace 
and war. Considered broadly, as compared with many American states, 
and many foreign countries, Pennsylvania alone is not only an empire, 
but a mother of empires. It is scarcely given to any other region on earth 
to be endowed with lands rich like the prairie states, hills of iron and coal, 
streams of wonderful beauty, and sweet, remote uplands of pastoral sim- 
plicity, decorated with the finer trees of the temperate zone. Wilkes-Barre 
and Scranton are beautiful modern cities, and though they live on coal, they 
are utilizing their immediate environment by parking river-banks and up- 
lands. Going out from these cities to the southeast, one comes into the 
famous Pocono resorts, and to the northwest, the stream- and lake- and 
mountain-regions and remote farms are still as unspoiled as they were a hun- 
dred years ago. A stream coming down from the north into Nanticoke 
forms what in the west we should call a cafion. It has in places very bold 
and picturesque crags rising by the side of the road, which in turn follows the 
creek. We should, by the way, be very careful to say creek, as the word 
“brook” is unfamiliar in this state, and indeed anywhere in America 
beyond New England, although we love the word and it is common 
in England. Anything in this region smaller than a river is a creek, and 
there seems to be no synonym for the word except “ stream,” or “ branch.” 


64 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


The outstanding attraction in this region is, however, Kitchen Creek. 
Under the wise control of a hunting and fishing club, it has been protected 
from unpleasing exploitation. There is an utter absence of objectionable 
features on the highway where one begins the journey on foot to the 
falls, and throughout the entire ramble. 

There is a long series of cascades or waterfalls, some of pretentious 
elevation, and others of that minor descent fitted to please the heart of the 
boy which remains in every man, and remind him of the miniature dams and 
water-wheels that were his delight. The conformation of the rock a little 
below the highway reminds one almost of the honey-comb. The cliff at 
the falls themselves is broken away or worn in those uncouth anomalous 
shapes which have always had a fascination not only for this age, but for 
remote and uncivilized man. Here the inevitable visionary who can point 
out faces in the rock may find his paradise. Probably all of our presidents, 
together with numberless other great man of the past, have their noses 
or eyes or some portion of their facial anatomy still carved in the rock. 
We have not, in all our ramblings, seen a deep forest dell surpassing in 
natural beauty the various windings of Kitchen Creek. We have only 
to refer the reader to “ An Untamed Wood,” page 271, and to the pictures 
on pages 272, 273, 2'79 and 282, to bear out our statement that here is a 
variety of beautiful forms of the highest merit. Where would one dis- 
cover a2 more oddly charming combination than appears in “ A Squirrel 
Bridge,” page 269, or in “A Pennsylvania Dell,” page 268? In places, 
the valley of the brook spreads to present a spacious forest canopy. Again 
it narrows, and the rushing waters leap down their enmossed crags. Dainty 
shoots arise on the shelves of the rocks. At the very brink of the stream 
majestic boles of the black birch have taken their stand. One is much 
astonished to find these great trees, some of them two feet and a half 
in diameter, and rising like Egyptian pillars into the dim temple heights 
above. ‘This tree is what is sometimes called the mahogany birch. Al- 
ternating with it one finds beautiful beeches and evergreens. 

A feature of very striking interest is the flagstone path which extends 








WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA COUNTIES 65 





THE OLD BROWN HOUSE, LANCASTER COUNTY 


wherever needed for a great distance along the borders of the stream. 
Apparently most of these natural flags were picked from the bed of the 
stream itself. In places, they are piled across a little gorge to a consider- 
able height. Again, as at one of the more beautiful falls (on the left, page 
259) they are built into a stair of stone, which in its curving line and its 
finely chosen setting, matches the most cunning art of the landscape 
gardener. Yet all is free and natural and wild. The number of the falls, 
little and big, is so great that we lost count, since there are numerous 
drops of a foot or two over old logs or ledges. These we passed between 
the more marked and striking cataracts, some of which must have been ap- 
propriate abodes for the gods of the waters worshiped by the aborigines. 

It would be entirely possible to record this region, which is about two 
miles in extent, and without overdoing it, by one or two hundred pictures. 


66 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


While the falls themselves are perhaps not more beautiful than those at 
Winona, Buck Hill, Bushkill, and their compeers, the paths that lead 
along Kitchen Creek present superior charms, because they are so extensive 
and various. While to the eye some of the cascades which were more 
abrupt might have surpassed it, we think that pictorially speaking “A 
Forest Stair,” page 279, is perhaps as beautiful in effect as any. 

It would be difficult to overemphasize the pleasure which we felt in 
finding all this beauty unmarred by man. We might revise the poet’s 
line in regard to this dreamy vale so as to run, “ Where every prospect 
pleases, and man’s himself worth while.” 

We were greeted at the parking space by a caretaker who asked us 
where we learned of this secluded spot. He seemed to express some sur- 
prise that a traveler from a distance should know anything of it. It is ap- 
parently not the purpose of those who control the approaches to blaze 
abroad these secret beauties. Possibly these gentlemen will not thank us 
for this so public expatiation on the subject. But we shall certainly do all 
American citizens a good turn by saying that if they start on this tramp 
some hours before a refection is required, since there is nothing to eat 
hereabouts, and if they are interested in what nature has prepared to show 
us with the least possible assistance from man, they will find it here, and 
find it in paths so still, except for the rustling of the leaves and the 
babbling of the stream, that they might easily be in the original wilds. 


MONROE AND PIKE COUNTIES 


IKE COUNTY lies fair upon the Delaware. It is really a nose thrust 
in between New Jersey and New York, Port Jervis being a corner 
town for three states. The beauties of the upper Delaware, in Wayne 
and Pike Counties, show here bold cliffs and sharp ascents, and there broad 
lowlands and splendid bordering meadows. Bushkill Creek is on the 


[Text continued on page 72.| 


a : 
EN ee Se 





A PERKIOMEN BRIDGE 





HOME BLOSSOMS -—N EARP A 1 LA Di Daria 





THE PERKIOMEN 


STREAM LINES 





BUCK COUNTY 


THE HARVEST FIELD 


AN ANCIENT KITCHEN=-CHESTER 





IN AUTUMN 


Written for picture on page 69 by Mitprep Hosss 


Have you ever wandered through a brown field of stubble 
Sending out the pungent odor of the early fall, 

Scattered with the glory of the heaped-up pumpkins, 
Each one gleaming like a great golden ball? 


Have you ever listened there when the light breezes 
Touched the tassels bending from the tall stacks of corn 
Spreading out their ragged ribbon-robes among the harvest, 
Clear against the cool sky of an autwmnn morn — 


Whispering together as the wind ran through them, 
Rustling the drying husks and the dead vines 

Of the golden pumpkins and the green and yellow squashes 
Piled into pyramids in long shining lines? 


Have you felt the rhythm and the harmony of autumn— 
Birches and maples in a crimson-orange blaze, 

Trees bending low with their red and russet apples, 

And the skies filling with a soft smoky haze? 


Bronze leaves, scarlet leaves whirling in a circle, 

Purple-clustered grapes, and a leaping brush fire, 
Birds wheeling southward, a lone cricket chirping! 
OA, has it filled you with a maddening desire 


To hold it, to keep it from the cold clutch of winter, 
The pomp and the glory and the beauty of it all? 
Like a rich robe for the last long dreaming 

Ts the gorgeous raiment of the earth in the fall! 


7k 


72 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


bounds between Pike and Monroe counties. To the north and east of it 
are numerous hidden lakes, narrow serpentine streams, and several water- 
falls, like Dingman’s, which is perhaps the best known. Pike County 
is another of the rural portions of Pennsylvania which is doubtless destined 
to very much larger development as the seat of country estates. 


THE. POCONO REGION 


ONROE COUNTY, in its upper section, is practically synonymous 

with the Pocono region. At first it is disappointing in that the 
general contour is that of a table land. We are at the greatest elevations, 
without having a sense of the fact, and there is a certain bareness here and 
there, arising no doubt from the windswept nature of the location. As 
soon, however, as one goes a little apart into the nooks and valleys, one 
discovers a large number of streams, which surprise one at every turn by 
their varying moods. Here they follow luxuriant evergreens; there they 
skirt along by the poplars, whose little hands are eternally beckoning us. 
At the next turn we may come upon majestic buttonwoods, with their great 
leaves suggesting the tropics, and their brown and green and gray trunks, 
which indicate that whatever the style and color, they mean always to be 
the fashionable tree of the wood. ‘The walnut or the shagbark, which 
is here the more common variety, is found by the roadsides and lanes 
and by the ledges of the pastures. There is frequently observed, as on the 
way to Paradise Falls, a long, sloping ledge of rock, over which a sheet of 
water glides silently but rapidly. We think it unnecessary to refer spe- 
cifically to all the illustrations of these features. The reader will find them 
set forth in many examples. 

The Poconos are the nearest very high land to Philadelphia, and they 
are the natural resort for those whose time is limited. Furthermore, there 
have been built up here several institutions of a distinctive character, which 
socially or morally or otherwise have gained prestige, and are maintaining 








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A LEHIGH COUNTY BARN 


the region as a strong magnet to those who are drawn by such considera- 
tions, and who is not? 

The principal charm of the Poconos consists of the water features. 
There are numerous falls delightful to explore. The Buck Hill falls, 
consisting of a series of successive leaps, are so situated as to be easily ac- 
cessible. The quite different character of the upper and lower falls 
renders each more attractive by contrast. The beautiful bowl into which 
the lower falls drop provides a little water amphitheater decorated with 
moss and lichen. It is such a spot as Horace or Ovid would have loved, 
and concerning which they would have given us some of their charming 
odes. We have shown the lower fall in various aspects, and are especially 
happy to show one of the upper cascades. The dell below the falls is 
deep, shady, and massed with foliage so as to afford a cool retreat in the 
hottest days of summer. 


74, PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


Above the falls also the stream is delightful with rapids and pools, 
and a wise use has been made of the waters and the banks by the bridges 
and paths. 

Perhaps the most beautiful fall in Pennsylvania, at least in its appeal 
to us, is the Indian Ladder. While its beauty may be seen from afar on 
the banks of the cafion-like cavity into which it drops, its appearance from 
that point is insignificant in comparison with the view close at hand. Its 
openness to the light of day is one of its merits. Some minds shrink from 
the dark and deep misty crevasses into which falls like the Bushkill cast 
themselves. Here, at the Indian Ladder, there is sunshine, and no sense 
of being shut away. The three principal steps of the fall, turning like 
the wind of a stair, the fine outlines of the cliffs, the dainty arrangement 
of the foliage, and the unsophisticated air of the entire valley, are felt 
as an accumulated and supremely beautiful general impression. We have 
thought so highly of this scene that we have used it on the jacket of this 
volume. 

The fall is to be visited only on foot, for the last half mile or so, but 
there is nothing difficult in the journey, which is thoroughly pleasurable, 
especially if undertaken with a congenial companion. There are aspects 
of beauty, each most appealing, as one approaches the fall from the rapids 
below. The writer had the misfortune to slip on a mossy rock in the midst 
of the stream, smashing some of the bones of his instrument, if not his own, 
and he is therefore particularly gratified that even after what promised 
to be a serious disaster, he still brought away these images of beauty. The 
fall is very happily named, and it is to be hoped that its freedom from ex- 
ploitation may continue. 

The Winona falls, though situated at some distance from the Indian 
Ladder, can scarcely be passed by by one who loves mountain waters. 
There is a succession of these falling torrents — seven, we believe, each 
differing sufficiently from its companions to add to our interest. Indeed, 
comparison gives beauty most of its charm. Some of these falls are in 
locations surrounded by massive and bold cliffs, and miniature suspension 





leOPRisl IIE 127i b ae 





AN UPPER WINONA FALL 


A WILKES BARRE BROOK 





UPPER BUCK HILL 


HOVAUAL ONODOd V qdidVu& ONOOOd V 








LrAUNI GAGS uy E RaGC OU Nid v 


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STTVA VNONIM—WVOdA AO SdAXLS TIVA TVALNAO VNONIM 








POCONO MOUNTAINS 


POPLAR RAPIDS 


STIVA SIAdT SNOILVYAOOAd CWHALSVONVI 





THE POCONO REGION 83 


bridges, and heavily banked foliage. They are, it is true, commercialized, 
but no objectionable features have intruded upon the waters themselves. 
The stroll to the uppermost fall is not difficult although there is not a 
little climbing of stairs. It is a peculiar delight to find such a succession 
of beauties hidden here among the hills, and we are led to wonder why 
such natural attractions are so infrequent. We know nothing of the kind 
among the White Mountains. We must attribute these pleasing phenomena 
to the peculiar geologic formation and to the abundance of rain on these 
slopes. 

The Bushkill fall is altogether the most impressive, from its solemn 
and awful depths, its seclusion and its dense mists, from the steep ap- 
proaches and the roar with which it dashes itself to the mystic pool below. 
The principal leap is impressively high, and in the springtime, when the 
waters are abundant, one feels, standing below, a sense of awe, and just 
that sufficient thrill of danger which we humans love. Below the main 
falls are subordinate cascades in this sheer abyss between the hills. While 
we recommend a visit in the spring, if one desires to get an impression of 
mystery and grandeur, and would even recommend a stormy day for en- 
hancing these impressions, we cheerfully record the gentler and sweeter 
impressions imparted by the thinner veil of water on a brilliant day in 
midsummer. The greens here are superb, the conifers seeming to pre- 
dominate. To see this fall, however, in all its moods, one should not 
miss an autumn visit, on a day of blue skies and rolling white clouds. 
With such an upper background, with the gorgeousness of the reds and 
browns and yellows against the blue, with the superb rock colorings and 
contours, and the music of the waters, we are in the presence of nature 
when she fairly overcomes us by her beauty and variety. At such times 
we are easily able to understand how the ancients, without other revela- 
tions, were led to worship. But even so, oriental peoples, like the Chinese, 
make the love of a landscape an act of worship, and find an inspiration 
in it which is only an occasional mood with us occidentals. We go to 
places like the Buck Hill falls, look, leave, and forget. The Chinese, at 


84. PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


least among their men of education, spend an hour almost daily, in a 
really ecstatic state, in watching the sky’s splendors suspended above their 
gardens, where evergreens and waters are taught to simulate the grander 
features of wild regions. 

Whether or not Americans in numbers will ever come to lose them- 
selves for long in the intriguing beauty of such views as this before us, 
we do not know. But we could easily imagine a life surrounded by such 
inspirations, led on to fine achievements of the mind. Strangely, it is said 
that most great literary productions have originated in attics, which were 
cold or hot or wretchedly furnished. It is probably true that most works 
of genius, as we name them, have been forced, or at least induced, by 
hunger or cold. Might there not be a far finer florescence of genius, were 
creative minds to place themselves at strategic points among the hills, 
where the beckonings of sky fingers and the celestial combinations of cliff 
and foliage and meadow and stream formed the foreground? 

The Paradise falls afford another and quite different appeal. The 
swift glide of the stream over the ledges for a long distance before the 
final leap; the breaking up of the waters below, that leap among the 
boulders; the turn of the stream at this point; and the secondary cascade; 
the great beauty of the surrounding trees, of many varieties of leaf and 
stem; altogether afford a fascinating experience well worth two journeys, 
each to fill a day. 

The delight of our minds in the play of waters is happily not con- 
fined to the more notable streams and falls. Little mountain becks and 
burns unnamed, often unseen, and mostly unappreciated, appeal to an- 
other side of our nature. We begin to feel the lure of personal posses- 
sion in a small cascade. We wish to decorate its banks and to clear it of 
broken branches, and to provide a little Forest of Arden, each one for 
ourselves. In appropriating a small cascade, such as that on page 161, to 
our own peculiar love and communion, we have no sense of selfishness, 
since the very solitariness of the spot indicates that others have passed it 
by, uncaring. This felicity, arising out of the charming water play even 








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ON THE BORDER OF BUCKS COUNTY 


of a small brook, is too much overlooked by Americans. There are prob- 
ably thousands of little dells in America which, in Japan, China, or India 
would form nuclei of famous country estates. Those past masters of 
landscape gardening, those minds, fellowshiping, apparently by nature, 
with the world of beauty, would create miniature Gardens of Eden where 
now the human foot seldom treads. 

Paradise Valley, which comes down on one side of the Poconos, and 
opens at length a little north of Stroudsburg, has as its center a stream 
with so many moods of beauty that we hardly know where to find its like. 
While there are no great surging leaps of the waters, there are so many 
rapids and eddies, there are so many deep banks over which the dainty 
evergreens of spring, with their parti-colored fingers, reach, there are so 
many noble buttonwoods laving their water, seeking roots in the banks, 


86 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


that we may find here solace for days. Many small bridges afford van- 
tage points for viewing the stream. We do not know whether fishermen 
find much here to their liking, but in the soft bordering meadows and in 
small orchards and cottages, and in the freshly opening aspects of beauty 
that meet one as he passes around the angles of the hills, there is an en- 
riching of the heart and a sufficient appeal to the emotions. 

One is often saddened by observing the sort of events that are re- 
quired to arouse interest in some minds. It would appear that certain 
persons require a great shock to become interested. Certain others will 
travel across the country for the welter of pleasure that they derive from 
seeing two men fight. No small proportion of men and women have been 
observed to sit for days at a time within a stone’s throw of natural beauties 
of the highest type, without any apparent interest in life beyond a game. 
A novel may be interesting, sometimes, we think, in proportion to its hor- 
rible, its repulsive, or its unnatural features. Yet we believe that there is, 
deep in the heart of man, an approval of and a delight in perfection of 
form. We believe that in the end the finer attractions may make their 
appeal. Just now a person of fine taste and intelligence who stands at 
the delivery desk of a public library and notices the titles that go out, 
spreading their turgid, malodorous stream through our commonwealths, 
must feel a shudder of fear at the sort of appeal required to interest 
mankind. 

In all our journeys amongst the beauty spots of Pennsylvania, we 
were almost always alone. At the Buck Hill falls, by the side of a great 
concourse of guests, we did naturally find persons scanning the loveliness 
which nature had unveiled. But at other points in Pennsylvania, in spring, 
summer, or autumn, on mountain or in meadow, by fall or stream, we have 
almost never encountered an individual looking at a landscape. The same, 
with the exception of those natural features everywhere talked about, and 
in the height of the season, is true in other states. The only spot in Maine 
where we have seen anyone looking at a landscape was at Mount Kineo. 
In New Hampshire we found a few persons at the Flume, not, by the 





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BEYOND THE STREAM—NEAR PHIL 202 eee 





THE ROBERT FULTON BIRTHPLACE=—LANCASTERDCOU NT 





INDIAN UADDER FALLS 





A HAPPY CHOICE-—-N EAR PHT EAD EU erie. 





POCONO MOUNTAINS 


A BRIDAL JUNE 





THE POCONO REGION 91 


way, one of the most interesting points in that state, and on Mount Wash- 
ington. For the rest, nobody was looking at anything. We would not be 
misunderstood. We know that millions of persons at times do enjoy the 
natural world. We take to ourselves no special merit for quality of mind 
and heart that is better than that possessed by the multitude, but we are 
stating the fact, that in our roamings at all seasons, we have as a rule been 
left in solitary enjoyment of the most entrancing objects which our search 
of years could discover. 

We would say that those who visit the Poconos would do best to fol- 
low up Paradise Valley to reach the summit. This region and the little 
neighborhood of Canadensis, and the side roads and valleys, are very rich 
in blossom time. | 

The Levis fall is quite accessible. It requires so brief a time to visit 
any of these cascades that we think it is a mistake to omit them, although 
we found very few of the habitués of the Poconos who had seen them 
all (page 82). 7 

At about the point of junction of Bear Creek and the Todyhanna at 
Stoddardsville, in the edge of Luzerne County but fairly in the Pocono 
district, the Lehigh river falls over a most picturesque series of steps. 
This fall, in the spring of the present year, was carrying a great volume 
of water, and without qualification shows greater variety and mass than 
any other of the falls in the entire district. It is happily directly on the 
roadside. We show two aspects of it, the principal one being on page 171. 
This fine cascade may be viewed from various angles, and in this particular 
is different from most of the falls in the Pocono. It lies in the open, in 
a most charming locality. A little below it there is the wreck of an old 
mill of stone. The light coming through the windows, and the configura- 
tion of the ruin in general, suggests a castle. We have seen no spot so 
well fitted for development as a private estate, with a water feature close 
at hand, The ride, indeed, from Wilkes-Barre to the Poconos through this 
point instead of by way of Scranton, brings into view many pleasing land- 

[Text continued on page 93.| 


INDIAN LADDER FALLS 


Written by Mitprep Hosss for picture on page 89 


Where rapid waters foam and glide 
Over the Pocono mountain-side, 


Falling, plunging, beating their way 
Among the rocks smooth-worn with spray, 


One sees fleet-footed warriors leap 
The boulders of the craggy steep 


With graceful birchen barks and packs 
Borne swiftly on their supple backs. 


Against the silver of the stream 
Their brilliant painted feathers gleam, 


And in the music of the falls 
One hears the echo of their calls. 


Beautiful Indian Ladder, white 
With fountains in a foamy flight! 


Great glistening steps whose crystal lights 
Lure on to hidden mountain heights, 


Your waters sing the days of old 
When Red-skins wandered free and bold 


Over America’s hills and streams— 
How glad, how sad is your song of dreams! 


Q2 





—— a ee. 





THE WATER GAP 93 












ase ea an aa So an 


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DAVID RITTENHOUSE BIRTHPLACE, MONTGOMERY CO. 


scapes, several of which we have recorded. ‘‘ A Shadowed Ribbon Road,” 
page 100, shows a little side way of much charm. Somewhat beyond this 
picture we see “ The Shadow Dell,” page 111. 


é 


THE WATER GAP 


HE Delaware, winding between the hills, perhaps we should say 
mountains, and dividing New Jersey from Pennsylvania, has at 
length cut its way down to such a level that, its work being done, it may 
glide along leisurely and reflect the crests which it has conquered. The 
Water Gap is famous everywhere, and deservedly, though we think that the 
Susquehanna below Wilkes-Barre is almost as good. It would be danger- 
ous, lest we arouse the hostility of local partisans, to compare the Water 
Gap with the Highlands of the Hudson. In one particular, New York is 
now ahead of Pennsylvania in the carrying out of its scenic mountain high- 
ways. We found it almost impossible, owing to fringes of trees, to obtain 
satisfactory outlooks upon the Water Gap. We confess ourselves astounded 
when informed that the mountains of the Gap rise above two thousand 
feet. There is no adequate measure of dimensions, so that one is much 
deceived. Stroudsburg is a natural point of meeting and departure, per- 


94. PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


haps the most notable in eastern Pennsylvania north of Philadelphia. One 
goes from here into those parts of the Pocono Mountains whose chief at- 
traction is their quiet evergreen forests, and their dignified, retired sum- 
mer homes. One goes also up the Paradise Valley and along the upper 
Delaware toward Port Jervis, a drive which, for long, rolling sweeps and 
broad meadows with distant hills, is of a very high order. One goes also 
by way of the river around the Kittatinny Range, to Bangor, Easton, and 
the South. Another route, leaving out the Water Gap but by way of the 
Wind Gap, through Saylorsburg to the south, is a very satisfactory drive. 

A journey undertaken to follow the Delaware wherever available by 
steam, or otherwise by canoe, from its far upland waters to the vicinity 
of Easton, is one to be undertaken by persons who have that happy faculty 
of carrying through the investigation of a particular region. A series of 
pictures of the Delaware alone, in all its moods, and from youth to 
maturity, should be an achievement and an occupation sufficiently en- 
grossing while it was being attained. Such projects carried through leave 
one afterwards with a various stock of valuable experiences and memories, 
together with the records which recall all these. With it all there may 
go an increased springiness of the gait, an enlargement of the chest meas- 
ure, an enriching of the heart, and a general sanity and poise. Indeed, 
we know nothing comparable with undertaking to explore a certain dis- 
trict of a state, noting by pen and otherwise its striking or pleasing fea- 
tures. That strength in statement and accuracy of estimate which forms 
a well-developed character is in no way better secured than by an inde- 
pendent investigation out of doors of something that has not been well 
done as yet. It is ever, or should be, a delight to be recommended, to 
discover something not hitherto observed. Our own occupations have for- 
bidden leisurely and thorough work of such a nature, but for youth or 
age of either sex, we can think of nothing more conducive to the good 
of the country investigated, and to the good of the investigator, than the 
devotion of oneself to some such object. 

What we may call a geographic sense, lacking any better term, which 





THE WATER GAP 95 


has been so nobly encouraged to develop, through the Geographical Maga- 
zine, that monumental and superb accomplishment, adds immensely to the 
joy of living. To be able to place oneself, in one’s thought, in the world, 
all the time; that is, to feel one’s situation in regard to the mountains and 
valleys and cities, to see, as we rest before we sleep, the panoramas of 
counties opening before us, to leap in our thought from crest to crest, and 
to note the sources of wealth and the decorations of a state, and to be con- 
scious always of one’s position in a landscape, even as a bird that flies, — 
all this is something not difficult of attainment, but immensely satisfactory. 
Doubtless it is to be assisted by aviation. One would say, however, that 
in that mode of movement, there should be greater interest and instruction 
in circling back and forth over a single valley until one learned it, than 
in shooting across states and acquiring only transitory impressions. 

We have to confess our envy of the aviator. He is able to secure those 
panoramas impossible to one on the ground. He absorbs at one glance 
the salient features of a county. To him a river is an instant and com- 
plete magnificence. The lakes are scattered like mirrors of the gods. 
Scarcely do the mountains frame his picture. He moves from one water- 
shed to another while we are thinking of it. He has in our generation 
suddenly attained to many of the attributes which we had counted as be- 
longing exclusively to superhuman intelligence. He is said to have con- 
quered the air, but the victory is over the earth. Whether we shall ever 
live to achieve a volume of airplane visions we do not know. We do feel, 
however, that we should make more of the superlative opportunity which 
the airplane affords, of recording the grandeur of the world. When we 
have looked entranced at some of those records made of cloud and serried 
summit as the airplane passed over them, we have felt that here, indeed, 
is a new avenue by which the appeals of nature may reach man. Vast, 
enthralling, awful, ecstatic in color and form, these natural glories unfold, 
heaven above heaven, until the beholder’s mind is drenched in a succession 
of inspirations. The reaction is one which causes us to marvel at the ca- 
pacities of our human nature for taking in the wonders of beauty. For- 


96 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


merly we saw the stars. Now we see the earth, the more beautiful and 
the more enticing vision. But we would not forget the stars. Having 
both these revelations, we have all. 

Culture is a word fought over. It means to the reader whatever he 
takes in of impression, and whatever he creates out of it by contemplation. 
Certainly it is one of the grander hopes of our age that beauty and power 
may be so unrolled on human vision, and so correlated by human thought 
that the life of the twentieth-century man may mean much more than 
that of life in any other century. We seem to see a poet, a patriot, or an 
historian gliding with an enlightened imagination over the more splendid 
natural beauties. From Mount Desert to Moosehead Lake and the Appa- 
lachian chain; from Champlain to the Hudson, over the savannahs of 
New York and Pennsylvania, surveying the Water Gap and the sweeps 
of the Susquehanna, turning to the great architectural creations of our 
cities, to the banding railroads and the craft plying on the waters; and 
finally to the millions of dear and sweet abodes in suburb and country, 
—we may conceive of a large and noble intelligence suffused by these 
visions, made able to give us of human nature’s best in poetry and art and 
patriotism. We love to dwell upon the reaction of man to the infinite 
phases of the world about him. The knowledge of chemistry, which is 
rising, —a miraculous body of facts gathered from liquid and gas and 
stone, from the mine and the air, is perhaps the most splendid exhibit of 
modern human achievement. Such a body of knowledge constantly grow- 
ing, constantly wedded by and brooded over by the imagination, con- 
stantly applied and adapted to the uses and delights of man, suggests a 
very much larger human existence. This experience should make each 
individual life eventually mean a thousandfold as much as it does now. 

We will say that a stolid laborer drives his spade full depth into mel- 
low loam, and lifts it to gaze at it for a moment. What does it mean to 
him? Even to him it means much. But what does it mean to the chemist, 
what to the economist, what to the poet? In that spadeful is the beauty 
of all lilies and all roses. There are hid the hydrangea, the hyacinth, the 


THE WATER GAP 97 






























N 
SH: SSS A 
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Se eee Se vega Re Sei ea am Se = 4 SEC Ss = 
Mote ia ales = ie ams ON a i te 
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AW. hl GC Fath O.O/F BARN 


iris. There are latent all the old-fashioned flowers. There are the grains 
that nourish all men, with their simple, quiet, steady, gray white, innocu- 
ous but delicious contents. There, also, are the secrets of geologic history. 
The aeons are contained in every grain of earth. The flood has washed 
it. or the volcano has hurled it out. The sun has worked upon it its mystic 
alchemy. It has transformed poisons. It has been the food of worms. 
It is the source of the vegetable, the vegetable is the source of the animal, 
the animal is the home or the companion or the cause of reaction, as we 
choose to put it, of the spiritual. In that clod is history and science and 
art and religion. We love a spadeful of soft, brown, fine earth. To sift 
it in our fingers, to press it about a transplanted shoot, to smell its fragrant 
power, to own it as a necessity, and to be given possession of it, to manipu- 
late it, is, if we put our thought into it and derive its secrets from it, among 
the best experiences of life. 

If there is so much in a spadeful, what is there in a worldful? One 
sweet, broad valley of Pennsylvania, prepared by nature and man, is sufhi- 





98 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


cient, under ideal conditions, under ideal stimulus of the mind and the 
heart, under proper adaptation of the economic and political sense, to pro- 
vide a newer and a better Athens, a more permanently beautiful and in- 
spiring Galilee, a steadier, a mightier and a more beneficent Rome. 

It is not without a hint of the fine reaction upon the soul of nature that 
we find in Pennsylvania the names of Galilee and Ephrata the Fruitful, 
of Bethlehem and Bethany, of Hebron, Jordan, and Sharon. All these 
names are indubitable evidence that the heart of man moves upon the 
heart of nature. They prove that man, beginning again in a new world, 
dares to believe that it is worth while to raise up new ideals from the 
ruins of old ones. They show a beautiful and undying faith that the 
work of a thoughtful and diligent man on the soil of the earth, and that 
man’s sweet and sane relations with his neighbors, are elements which 
may soon, and sometime must, evolve a satisfactory society. When we 
have wandered over such counties as Lancaster and Lebanon, Montgomery 
and Bucks, and have seen what man has done, how smoothly he has combed 
his fields, how neatly he has made his bounds, how carefully he has erected 
his habitations, we have been conscious of a kind of flood of gratitude, 
that men have achieved so much, and have spread themselves in a manner 
so wise and sane, over a tract of God’s country. We cannot, however, 
resist the impression that this achievement is not enough, and that the 
men who labor here are not, or ought not to be, satisfied with what they 
have done. As yet their Bethlehem and Bethany lack particularly, we 
should say, most of all, that spirit which pushes on to acquire the crowning 
features of manhood. We hope for every farmer to feel the poetry that 
is in the sod. We hope for him to see the tawdriness in our churches 
under the so perfect sky. We feel as certain as we are of the sunrise that 
he will take as a recipe something of the soil, something of the rock, some- 
thing of the cloud and the blue, something from the dreaming river, and _ 
by the alchemy of love and study and imagination and experience even- 
tually produce works in literature and other lines of human achievement, 
for which the world is half famished. To us a landscape is not so much 





BUCK HILL FALL 





A RIVER IN HAST E==]WEN OWA Ah eee 





A SHADOWED RIBBON ROAD—POCONO MOUNTAINS 





POCONO BLOOMS 





DOWN BY THE BARN-POCONO MOUNTAINS 


ABANDONED 





PPACRSAS DSi Hear ries 


IN THE CORN-—BUCKS COUNTY 


A beac ree aS 





LANCASTER COUNTY 103 


an achievement as a prophecy. The brooks tell of something that is com- 
ing, for which the past has been a long preparing foundation. 

Two hundred years ago England was said to be over-populated when 
it had a small fraction of its present people in numbers. We heard the 
fatuity of Matthew Arnold state that England was finished. Well, it 
was nearly finished by the late war. It has been nearly finished by the 
disease and the blindness and the selfishness in it. It was nearly finished 
in the view of Goldsmith, when he wrote “ The Deserted Village.” Eng- 
Jand is an old country. Our known history is but a chapter to its over- 
flowing volume. But who, noting the struggle upward in England at the 
present time, can doubt that the centuries have something vastly better 
for her than she has seen? Even from the standpoint of the physical, the 
useless lands of England are in time to be transformed. How much in 
the way of putting flowers in its alleys and sweet air where smoke reigns, 
how much in enriching the lives of the uneducated and improving for the 
multitude the possible harmonies that may be established between men 
as well as between men and nature, is yet to be done in England. If that 
is true in the Old World, what can we say of a fair region like Penn- 
sylvania? 


LANCASTER COUNTY 


ARRYING forward a résumé of the attractions in this state, we find 

in this county a leadership claimed over all others in the Union. It 

is stated that the products of the soil in one year here have amounted to 
more than a hundred million dollars. We might traverse many prairie 
lands and search abroad in vain for fields as fair, as uniformly good, as 
well stocked, as well provided with storehouses and dwellings, as well 
fenced, as well kept. Nature was most fair and most rich. Man has 
been most diligent and intelligent in fostering and working with and on 
the earth. What an achievement to point out to the people of Russia! 
How long will it be before a similar area in Russia will exhibit a similar 


104 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


sanity, diligence, and wealth? Here is, perhaps, the banner district in 
the world of a similar area. It can teach the East and the West very 
much. To our southern compatriots, it may give a lesson well worth their 
conning, a lesson which it may require generations for them to learn and 
use. 

Lancaster itself is of course a great market town, in the best old Eng- 
lish sense, in many respects. It is also a teeming manufacturing center. 
It has its noble churches, the dean of which we presume is admitted to 
be St. Peter’s (page 33), sketched for us by Mr. Carl W. Drepperd. In 
every direction from this well built city one goes inevitably to a premier 
agricultural district. If one wants to see what farming is, let him go to 
this county. The billowing grain in sea green, summer green, and August 
gold, rolls over the hills. The corn fields rustle and hide their full, silken 
ears, the finest aspect of any crop that grows. The orchards hang lus- 
ciously with all that succession of fruit which most aptly typifies the close 
of the year. Whether we see the close-set shocks of grain, or the abun- 
dant delicacies thriving in the garden, or the great, open doors of the 
barns that house all, there is driven in upon us that here is land doing its 
best, and men doing their best for it, and each enriched and made better 
by the result. Yet, as we have said, all this is only a preparation. Talk 
with any farmer or merchant and you find him to be full of informa- 
tion on certain subjects. He knows them about as well as they can be 
known. He has handled them, experimented with them, and called in 
sun, rain, and chemicals to win success by them. He knows his work and 
rests in quiet assurance regarding it. Touch him on those aspects of his 
life to which he has principally given his attention, and you derive a full 
and satisfactory reaction. But there are lines of thought, profitable for 
him to follow, upon which neither he nor we have gone very far. There 
is an unrealized world for every man. Neither need he go to heaven 
to find it. It is above the mines and below the stars. His feet stand 
upon it, and his hands have to do with it. But let no farmer, let no me- 
chanic, think that he has done more than touch the surface of things. 





LANCASTER COUNTY 105 













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A BARN NEAR ALLENTOWN 


As a man with a small vocabulary wrestles with the expression of a few 
crude thoughts, and regards with dull astonishment the plethoric torrent 
of Shakespeare’s ideas, so any mechanic or farmer, or scholar, when he 
thinks, knows full well that he is working around the edges or upon cer- 
tain facets of his subject. What a broader education and the light of 
imagination, and the careful setting to work of chemical discovery, can 
make of men and their surroundings, is an unsolved, a fascinating prob- 
lem. What an intelligent Pennsylvania farmer is in comparison with an 
Egyptian laborer is the distance of centuries of experience, a zone of cli- 
mate, the prayers, the struggles, the genius of ages. What the Pennsyl- 
vania farmer is to the man who will work upon the same soil a thousand 
years from now, we do not at all know. But we feel compelled, by the 
forces of an undiscouraged evolution around us eternally at work, to con- 
clude that some time, on this soil, there will break forth a finer quality 
of civilization than America now possesses. 

The initial and perhaps fatal historic mistake of human thought is 
that it has arbitrarily divided itself into categories, and has gratuitously 


106 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


assumed a lack of unity between the component parts of creation. Just 
as if the sod could be separated from the stars, just as if argon and hy- 
drogen were not as divine in their intended uses as hymns. Who, in 
these days, is big enough or wise enough or bold enough to separate the 
agencies in nature from what we have been accustomed to call spirit? 
Who in the re-arrangement of knowledge would be so fatuous as to keep 
chemistry out of religion, or religion out of chemistry? Who knows that 
there is not as much moral purpose in a sunbeam as in a commandment? 

A little south of Lancaster the Conestoga river and the Little Cones- 
toga form beautiful dells, and one of the loveliest river bank strolls that 
we have found in the state. There is literally a picture at every turn, 
by which we mean a really artistic composition. 

Pequa Creek, a little south of the Conestoga, is another pictorial 
stream. We came hereabouts, near Quarryville, upon a row of fruit trees 
in blossom and overhanging a little field canal. It is one of the finest 
instances of the fact that intimate subjects in the immediate foreground 
afford the greatest satisfaction (page 79). 

Anent the Conestoga, the name is freighted with romance, since it was 
from this locality that the Conestoga wagon took its name. This remark- 
able craft, if one may use the term as we are tempted to do by the boat 
shape of the body, is the finest symbolical embodiment of western emigra- 
tion. The vehicle was wide and high and long, equipped with axe, bucket, 
and every possible appliance for restoring the ravages of fire and freshet, 
to make a mountain road passable again. The shape of the bottom of 
the vehicle was adopted in order to prevent the shifting of the load on 
steep hills. This vehicle was of the type regularly in use for the great 
emigration and great freight movement that followed it into the states 
of Ohio, Kentucky, and beyond. The ordinary prairie schooner was a 
poor country cousin of the Conestoga wagon. One of these vehicles ought 
to be kept in the museum of every great city in the regions settled through 
their use, that the generations may see how their fathers crossed the moun- 
tain and the flood. 





WATER BOWS-——POCONO MOUNTAINS 





Ai B.O'C ONO =HIO Mir D Reaver 





NEAR STROUDSBURG 


AP Piss COTA Gr 





A WEST CHESTER BORDER 





BRIDE’S WAY—POCONO MOUNTAINS 





LANCASTER COUNTY 


OLD TIME PENNSY LEVANTA 





LUZERNE COUNTY 


LH EVD LG Heal SP Aw: 





LUZERNE COUNTY 


SHADOW DELL 





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A LINCOLN ROADSIDE—-WES TD CH ESR EE ReC OUENeiey 


BERKS COUNTY II5 


We reserve for future treatment the Susquehanna border of Lancaster 
County, as well as of those counties that lie to the northwest of it and on 
the east of the great river. 


BERKS COUNTY 


HE city of Reading, the centre of this teeming county, is thoroughly 
well built, but for the most part lies outside the scope of our work. 
Its Trinity Lutheran church-spire (page 33) is one of the most beautiful 
in Pennsylvania, being quite different in type from those of New England, 
yet with special merits of its own. One of these is that it was constructed 
of permanent materials, as those in New England for the most part are 
not. It presides over the centre of the city in a very comforting manner. 
As one enters the town, an edifice with much the appearance of a Euro- 
pean castle or a great armory, we are told, is the jail. Before it, a great 
pear tree was in beautiful blosscm (page 152). 

Four or five miles east of Reading the stream which meanders through 
the golf course calls out our admiration (page 15). Another stream to 
the south of the road beneath the elms and the buttonwoods, and called 
the Monocacy, offers the best pictorial opportunities which we discovered 
in the county (page 12). We love best these streams with gently sloping 
banks, but with just enough good nature to turn the wheels of the little 
old mills. Berks County has extensive highlands to the east and north of 
Reading, and somewhat high land to the south. These hills are detached 
from the main chain of the Appalachians, and enjoy an individuality and 
beauty of their own. Moving easterly, near Boyertown, we find ourselves 
in a rich agricultural valley settled by the Germans, and with many quaint 
architectural features. The ancient customs are largely handed down, with 
little change. The entire drive from Reading through Boyertown and 
thence northeast to Allentown, or bearing still more east through Quaker- 
town and toward Bethlehem, is less marked by open plains than we find 


PEO ae PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


to be the rule in Lancaster County. But the gentle hills and the numerous 
turns give the country an older, cosier, more pleasing effect pictorially. 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY 


ORRISTOWN,, itself rather notable for early homes and collections 
of earlier furniture, is also a convenient region for exploring Mont- 
gomery County. The streams of this county excel, for our purposes, any 
others we have seen in the state. The Perkiomen river, having its sources 
in Berks, Lehigh, and Bucks, meanders through the county in many a de- 
lightful curve. It has furnished us (pages 25, 26, 36, 46, 50, 67, 68) 
with numerous records of its beauties. There are stately arches seeming 
to exist purely to tempt the wanderer to make a sylvan camp on the banks. 
There is many an old flour mill, some of them still active. One could 
pass an entire week with delight canoeing on this stream. 

The Skippack, quite near to Norristown, is only second in attraction 
to the Perkiomen. ‘This stream invites us to be children again, and to 
wade in its sands and play with its pebbles. A lunch on its grassy banks, 
beneath the broad leaves of the buttonwoods, is an experience that may 
sweeten several stormy winter days, as we recall, by our firesides, the 
shimmering reaches of the Skippack. 

At Collegeville, the main western highway, about seven miles from 
Norristown, crosses a bridge said to have been built about 1800. Its fine 
ramps and the little bastions over the piers, — an ideal spot for the fisher- 
man, the artist, the poet, or the lover, — the quiet waters beneath, their 
banks lined with noble trees, may continue to hold us in longing admira- 
tion. There is an ancient tavern at one end of the bridge, and the town, 
with its educational flavor, spreads fair beyond on the higher slopes. 

Northeast from Ambler, which in contiguous to Norristown, one drives 
through a semi-urban neighborhood. The place names add not a little 
to the flavor of such a tour. One passes, for instance, through Plymouth 





MONTGOMERY COUNTY 117 












Wi att 
yp Ale an 
At ee opus 
—— 
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— we 





os ee rs — — 
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THE MORAVIAN CHURCH-—-BETHLEHEM 


Meeting. On the other side of the Schuylkill is the village called “ King 


of Prussia.” 


When names are so easy of access, we never fail to wish that 
these romantic terms are not more in use. 

Norristown is the natural point from which Valley Forge is reached, 
though if one comes from Philadelphia and keeps to the south of the 
Schuylkill he follows another interesting route, on which we found “ The 
Curving Lane” (page 47), that fed our feeling for a gently sloping 
countryside. It was on this journey, also, near Phoenixville, that we found 
the farm whose dwelling is shown (page 23) in “ A Pennsylvania Cottage.” 


The apple tree at the back door is the one thing we should always insist 


118 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


on. There ought to be a law that no detached dwelling should be with- 
out an apple tree. Is it not a law of sentiment, of convenience, and of 
social harmony and unity? Will it not keep the children at home and 
bring them back after they are grown? The dear lady who is housewife 
in this dwelling came out and picked us flowers, and rejoiced in our joy 
over her home. Persons owning dwellings like these are more outside of 
them than inside. From a distance, on the opposite side, this place is seen 
again (page 48) in the picture entitled “The Creek in May.” Multitudes 
of white flowers grew in front of the dwelling on the bank of the stream. 
This spot was a haven of peace and kindly comfort and homely joys. | 

Valley Forge has now happily been redeemed to form a shrine of the 
American people. We secured a composition which connects the stream 
with the headquarters in our picture on page 57. The house in which 
Washington lived here is small. It is opened widely to the public, and 
supplies a kind of educational centre in patriotism, and gives a glimpse of 
the old manner of living. Particularly interesting is the kitchen end. In 
Pennsylvania the log kitchen is not so very rare, though we have never 
seen one retained in the east and north. A peculiar feature of many stone 
farm houses is the placing of the chimney at the outside angle of the ell, 
so that it comes up from a corner, a fashion we have not seen elsewhere 
in America. Within, this corner was occupied by a vast platform for doing 
all the baking and boiling of the household, together with the larger 
operations, such as the autumn killing. Beneath this great platform the 
flues ran from more than one direction toward the chimney. The floor 
was flagged. The room was large, and hung about with great ladles, 
skillets, broilers, and griddles. It would require indeed a page to catalog 
all the characteristic utensils ranged around the two interior walls. A 
room like this, while not especially pictorial, engages one’s absorbed at- 
tention. It was for a considerable part of the day the home of the house- 
wife, though originally we understand its use was confined mostly to the 
warmer season of the year. 











A PENNSYLVANIA COTTAGE—NEAR POTTSVILLE 


SONOOOd AHL NI—HALIVAM NIVENA OW TIVH FDAONAACNAdGCAANI 








LUZERNE WATERS 





DELAWARE CANAL AT EASTON 





ABP AE i RE Ea Wey 


MONTGOMERY COUNTY 52 


A Pennsylvania farmer’s wife is the most efficient person imaginable. 
She is not thin and nervous, as New England women sometimes were. 
She is the image of large contentment. Her heart is in her work. It is 
not a means with her, but an end. She seems sorry that her baking should 
ever be done, but if by any chance she can think of nothing more to do 
in the outer kitchen, she turns to the embroidery of linen, toweling, or to 
the making of some design in a bedspread. From age to age every house- 
wife desires to add a little touch of originality to the conventions of the 
days that were. Her chests of drawers, of fine old walnut, groan with 
their burden of counterpanes and linen sheets. Her samplers adorn the 
walls and her rugs cover the floors. 

There is no form of farm labor that belongs to woman which this 
woman cannot do in perfection, and which she does not love. The 
cheese and the butter-making, the sauerkraut and the apple-butter. put 
up in vast quantities in the autumn, the preserves and dried fruit and 
vegetables, would fill no mean storehouse for a garrison. These people 
labor largely, and a Pennsylvania farmer’s appetite is in proportion to 
his size and his efforts. Dyspepsia is not a chronic ailment. The corned 
beef and the mincemeat, the ham and the bacon, and the host of other 
substantial or more dainty stores, fill the great cellars. Any farmer seek- 
ing a wife should haunt the rural districts of Pennsylvania, where women 
were born to be farmers?’ wives, and where they continually thank God 
for the fact! They justly believe there is no higher estate. Ample in 
dimensions physically, serene of mind, endowed with broad common sense, 
loving her home and her acres, the Pennsylvania farmer’s wife is a true 
helpmeet for her husband. 

The spirit so common in other parts of our country where the farm 
is thought the plaything for rich retired persons, or a half-despised way 
station for those who aspire to a trade or profession, is happily wanting 
on the typical Pennsylvania farm. While we would not say that every 
man ought to be content where he is and with what he is doing, we can 


124 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


but feel that there must be for the permanence of our institutions a great 
many such persons as are found in rural Pennsylvania. 

Those who meander through our picture pages will find other ex- 
amples belonging to this county. 


CHESTER COUNTY 


ET us say at once, to avoid the wrath of our numerous friends in 
West Chester, that all the pictures in this volume which are both 
titled and placed as in Chester, refer to Chester County, and not to Old 
Chester, with the exception of those that are specially so designated. 
Old Chester, from its location near the river Delaware, and from its 
proximity to large manufacturing enterprises and its more level contours, 


has not supplied us with so much pictorial material as has Chester County. 


Indeed, Chester is in Delaware County. 

West Chester believes itself to be the finest type of a suburban town, 
and there is very much in it and about it to justify the belief. It has 
attractive public buildings and ancient inns, with a prestige and a romance 
worthy of the pen of Dickens or Thackeray. Its private residences possess 
much dignity and charm, particularly that which is derived from eight- 
eenth-century architecture and decorations. Old trees, old shrubs, old 
walks, old cornices, old fireplaces and furniture, old customs and old 
friendships are other names for West Chester. 

Large schools here add an agreeable scholastic flavor. The region 
round about is sought out by those who, having attained a competence and 
a knowledge of the world, desire to plant themselves for generations, for 
they think of their children as reincarnations. When we asked about a 
certain resident, we were informed that he was not known very well, be- 
cause he had been there only forty years! People who write and think, 
and other people who perhaps just sit, as they say in the South, have 
flocked to the districts bordering West Chester. All this is very alluring 


CHESTER COUNTY 125 





THE CLOISTERS, EPHRATA 


to one with the writer’s cast of mind, who can think of no region more 
agreeable to live in or to die in. It is thoroughly adapted either for 
thinking or for sitting. 

But let not the frivolous imagine that West ‘Chester does not know 
itself, or that it is narrow. Let anybody come along who is worth while 
and is also a gentleman, and he will be adopted into the families of West 
Chester with as much cordiality as if he had been there longer. 

We have found the environment of West Chester just what we love. 
The first immediate object of delight is the Brandywine at Chad’s Ford, 
that wonderful old bridge which, with its neighborhood, shows in differ- 
ent aspects on pages 45 and 67. The picture of cows shows them inter- 
ested but contented in the buttonwood meadows below the bridge. The 
site is that of the Battle of Brandywine, and Lafayette’s Headquarters ap- 
pear on page 119. The Brandywine and its tributaries are hereabouts 
all that we can ask in the way of beauty. ‘A West Chester Border,” 
page 119, gives us an orchard enclosed by a zigzag rail fence. “A 
Lincoln Roadside ” is close to the college, some miles west of West Ches- 
ter. The region is rich in little valley nooks, like “ A Dogwood Bank ” 
and “ Blossom Valley ” on page 145. “ The Bride’s Shower,” page 151, 
where, in spite of the innumerable petals on the ground, there seem to 


126 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


be innumerable others above, is found in the same region, as are the pic- 
tures on page 153, one on page 163, and “The Guarded Home” on page 
165. The clouds favored us in “ A Chester Valley,” page 117, and bridge 
and stream and road and tree in “ A Mill and a Dell,” page 183. ‘ Penn’s 
Woods,” page 184, “A Petaled Cart Path,” page 203, and particularly 
“A Blossoming Arch,” page 215, delighted us. The proximity of West 
Chester to Philadelphia has made it feasible for many to take advantage 
of its loveliness. The neighborhood appears more thoroughly English 
than any other section of America with which we are familiar. 

We have mentioned the inns of West Chester. We should further 
say that not only in the town, but on many roads leading from it we have 
the characteristic stone-built, old-fashioned inns, where it is still possible 
to obtain a substantial meal. Everything is placed on the table. We 
counted thirteen kinds of vegetables and sauces on the occasion of finding 
ourselves at such an inn. The walls were thick and the windows were 
splayed in the English stone farm house fashion, so that even on the in- 
terior these old dwellings give the feeling of security and permanence. 
We do not expect the walls of inns to be adorned with works of art. A 
curious cupboard of walnut is all that we can ask. Nor do we ask in vain. 

The Pennsylvania inn seems to be able to continue in a fashion under 
the eighteenth amendment. Perhaps the milder beverages are not so satis- 
factory to the old customer, but they will answer for us boys. Some of the 
old inns have gathered curious old implements or furniture, which they 
have attached to the ceiling or otherwise disposed about the rooms, so as 
to prove an attraction to the mind. If prohibition has done this, we thank 
it. It is a higher appeal, and in the end may prove just as expensive to 
the customer and as profitable to the inn-keeper! 

It is hard for us to tear ourselves away from West Chester, and we 
find our feet, or should we say our steering-gear, inclined to turn that 
way. For beauty, for physical improvements, for architectural dignity, 
for quiet and good society, for an educational atmosphere, and for con- 
venience to great centres, we have loved the town. 


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OLD CHESTER COURT HOUSE 


128 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


THE WASHINGTON CHURCH AT VALLEY FORGE 


T has required an unique combination of talents to erect a church of a 
memorial nature like that at Valley Forge. The result is monumental, 
and the labor required is no less than colossal. The devoted man who here 
exercises his functions as a clergyman has given many years with his artis- 
tic advisers to the production of an edifice, in every stone and timber of 
which there is the feeling of ancient memories. ‘The windows are com- 
memorative of notable events and persons of the Revolution. Even the 
carvings in the choir stalls and other features of the edifice are especially 
designed to the same end. For a unified work it speaks at once of rever- 
ence, knowledge, patience, and good taste. There is scarcely anything in 
America that is comparable with this edifice and its contents. Our pic- 
ture, page 229, shows it in the spring, when only its outlines are visible 
through the limbs of the trees. An open cloister is well begun, each sec- 
tion of which is being undertaken by different parts of the Union. Long 
may the noble and sincere soul who has done this service to his country 
continue, so that if possible in his lifetime he may see a certain degree of 
completion. In the basement, perhaps we should say crypt, he has gath- 
ered also an immense number of articles in use during the ancient time, 
and characteristic mostly of Pennsylvania. They include not only such 
things as are usually found in museums, but many of a peculiarly valu- 
able character connected with the personalities or the spirit of patriotism 
of the past. ; 

Of course, in process of time it is the purpose to erect a separate mu- 
seum for the important collection. The spirit of pure unselfishness which 
has been manifested in this labor should certainly stimulate us all to assist 
in its purpose. 


BUCKS COUNTY 129 





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A MONTGOMERY COUNTY HOMESTEAD 


BUCKS COUNTY 


S old, as finished, as pleasing as any of the counties in the state, 
Bucks, just north of Philadelphia, and on the route of all those who 

go to the Water Gap, to the Poconos, or to the north, demands a good 
deal of the traveler’s attention if he would get the spirit of Pennsylvania. 
At Doylestown, Dr. Mercer, the author of The Bible in Iron, has 
erected a monumentally solid fireproof museum to show the connection 
between the development of household arts and the invention of tools 
and implements. Dr. Mercer has given most generously of his years and 
otherwise to this great, and in many respects unique institution. It is his 
right, and perhaps his purpose, to deal with his collections in a scientific 
and literary manner, in order that the public may everywhere enjoy the 
fruits of his labors and studies. There are other collections in the neigh- 
borhood which, however, are not open to public use. In this neighbor- 


130 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


hood a careful study is being made by various persons, under the inspira- 
tion of Dr. Mercer, of the earliest Pennsylvania institutions, such as its 
forges, foundries, and ancient industries. Also the peculiar styles of 
architecture in this state are being carefully studied, and various persons 
have erected or restored dwellings in the best early taste. In fact, all 
about Philadelphia there has been a rather successful effort to idealize 
country life. The thoughts of the founders have been carried out as they 
would like to have carried them out had they possessed the leisure or 
the means. In an effort of this sort there has been too often, in other 
parts of the country, a grafting on of modern or individual notions to 
such an extent as to ruin the unity of development. About Philadelphia 
we find a more careful attention to bring things back as they were, or as 
the fathers meant to make them. Even when, as very often occurs, wealth, 
and a desire to entertain largely induces the erection of a dwelling larger 
than a farm house, the work is often as if it were an extension of such a 
farm house. To our thought this is the only proper course. Mixing the 
old and the new spoils each. The more rigorous, the more thoroughly 
correct we are, the greater the charm, and the more meritorious will be 
the result. 

In the dwelling itself, therefore, the spirit of the Pennsylvania home 
should first be conserved in the solidness of the stone wall, and in the use 
of flagging or brick in such rooms as the kitchen, the den, or any large 
home room where such construction would be historically proper. The 
heavy window frames should be insisted upon, and the deep embrasures 
of the splayed windows. Large fireplaces, open to their full extent and 
to some degree in use, must certainly form a part of the scheme. We 
were told recently of the purchase of a so-called colonial house which had 
no fireplaces whatever. Of course the house was either very much after 
the colonial time, or its fireplaces had been completely built up and hid- 
den, the more likely alternative. No bricks should ever be used where 
stone ever was used, or could be used. 

[Text continued on page 136.| 


Sika. 2 PPC kee bMS 











A FRIENDLY BROOK 


SHADOWS OF BUTTONWOODS—-WESB CHESTER 





ACCOMMODATING CURVES——-WEST CHESTER 





A-TUMULT OF WATERS—PARADISE VALLEY 


THE OLD DRIVE 
Written by Mitprep Hosss for picture on page 133 


Into a wonder-road the old drive led, 

A road that beckoned youth to follow far, 

So bright the vision, and the goal so great. 
But when the race was won and time had sped 
The road led homeward to the open gate. 
And now to be returning 

After the years of yearning! 

The singing wheels, the sharp familiar turn, 
Leaving behind the road of dreams-afar, 

The boughs caressing as they did of yore, 
The quickened pulse, the unshed tears that burn 
At sight of Mother waiting at the door 

Where lilacs stoop to kiss her silvering hair 
And wave to us across the scented air. 


And so the long procession of the years — 

The litile children swinging on the gate, 

The sweethearts strolling on the moonlit grass 
Beneath the trees who shed their petal-tears 
For phantom friends as up and down they pass 
With dreams of restless roaming 

Or songs of homing. 

A long procession up and down the drive — 
The relatives and neighbors congregate 

For wedding feasts and times of death and birth, 
And dear-loved faces of the past arrive, 

The old drive, silent, sad, or loud with mirth. 
Oh, what a wealth of memories endears 

These petal-covered curves, deep-scarred with years! 


135 


136 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


The ceilings of the type found in the middle Atlantic states in the 
early period are beautifully appropriate. They were in the form of thin, 
but deep floor timbers, which were smoothly dressed by plane, as well as 
the floors that were laid above them. The open ceiling of a New Eng- 
land house was of necessity somewhat crude, as the summer beam was 
often the only smooth portion. If the smaller floor timbers were smooth, 
the floor above never was. In the Brown house, already referred to, a 
perfectly clean ceiling is obtained. Sometimes the work seems to have 
been done in walnut, and sometimes in poplar or whitewood. We pre- 
sume pine was used on occasion, though it seems to have been rather rare. 
Ceilings of this sort are seen in old-world houses, though we have never 
seen here the corbels which are found abroad at the end of the floor timbers. 
The nearest approach to these corbels is the enlarged, splayed post familiar 
in seventeenth-century New England houses. We refer to a corbel some- 
what like the bracket previously mentioned as sustaining the door head on 
the Black Horse Tavern. preg 

The construction with long deep timbers, entirely spanning a room, 
was stronger than the summer beam type, and was less likely to sag in the 
middle. 

The habit of building in long cupboards in wood, in Pennsylvania, was 
a very practical device. We find it some times in long hallways. The 
cupboard thus formed a finish of the wall on the side of the room where 
it was located, for it extended the entire width and obviated an unpleasant 
break. 

We notice that the fireplaces in Pennsylvania were often open to a 
greater height than those found farther north. This also is a more faith- 
ful following of the tradition of the Old World. Some of the trammels 
which we possess could not have been used except in a very high fire- 
place, since they must have hung at least nine feet above the floor. One 
should remember that at first there was no crane. 

The treatment of the wall ought also, of course, to be in wood for 
partitions, and where feasible, even for the outer walls of stone a cover- 


QVAaLSHWOH VIHdAITAACVIIHd V 


















































138 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


ing of the simplest panel work could be provided. The styles of molding 
about the doors and on the doors themselves could be followed, except 
where, as in the quainter examples, solid doors were used. The stairway in 
Pennsylvania was not made as much of as commonly in New England, 
but wherever the genius of the locality will permit, it should be emphasized 
in its quainter or more beautiful aspects. Externally the water tables 
should be used, as in “ The Ancient Abandoned Farm House,” page 102. 
In a large dwelling this water table can be repeated between the first and 
second stories, as in examples already mentioned. As to the roof, we 
may be told that it was necessary to use shingles to keep the old feel- 
ing. But in a country so full of slate that even the fence posts are often 
of that material, it is obvious that a heavy slate, with roughly chipped 
edges, like the English Horsham slate, may be used, and thus make for 
fire protection. No dwelling of this sort is completely happy without 
flags at the back door and flag paths elsewhere, wherever the extent of 
the grounds or the means of the builder will permit. We have long 
felt the appropriateness of the name “flag” for these flat stones, which 
in England were often laid across marshes where the flags grew, or were 
placed upon the floor and were covered over with flags from the marshes. 
We have sought in vain, however, to find some connection between the 
name of the stone and the growing flag. ! 

It often happens that an old house is restored or a new one built in 
the old style without taking account of some of the best features of the 
old time. Thus the sentiment and the connection are lost, and a great part 
of the effort is in vain. The furniture, for instance, should agree quite 
perfectly with the type and the period of the house. Let no one think 
to toss this matter lightly aside by stating that there is no effort to have | 
the furniture in period. That is generally obvious enough, in fact too 
much so, without making such a statement. But it is not enough to deny an 
intention where an intention ought to have existed; nor is it enough to 
answer that people may follow their own tastes. ‘That also is too obvious, 
but it does not establish their social or aesthetic right to do so. When it 





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BUCKS COUNTY 147 


is a fad to take up early architecture and decoration, those who are merely 
following fads always make the mistake of lacking thoroughness. The 
result is somewhat like that obtained in Japan and China, by the adoption 
of occidental costumes, on the part of women, who then dress the hair 
in the oriental style. Many an American lady, who would be shocked if 
every portion of her costume was not in perfect accord, in style and color, 
with every other portion, does not hesitate to throw together a tasteless 
jumble in her residence. It is like the nabobs of India bringing in a few 
occidental pieces of furniture. Particularly in the decorative arts, one 
should do all or none. A thing of this sort, half done, has an effect far 
worse than an original condition, however bad. 

It is true that there is no modern furniture, in the sense that any style 
has established itself, or is likely to do so. We have had neither the time 
nor the segregation, nor the art impulse, nor anything else, perhaps, re- 
quired to originate a harmonious and sensible style of household decora- 
tion. So many good men have preceded us, and have thought of so much 
that is good, that we are handicapped. We are also hindered by the lack 
of that seclusion which an artist requires in order to specialize. Perhaps 
we are naturally inartistic. Whatever the cause for present conditions, 
it is far safer to copy than to originate. It is less necessary, perhaps, 
to say these things in a book on Pennsylvania than it would be to say 
them in a book on the West. Yet these principles would not come amiss 
anywhere, and cannot be too often reiterated. It will be time enough to 
stop enunciating them when they begin to be heeded. There is a very 
powerful sentimental impulse to keep what our mothers had. But if those 
mothers, or their mothers, did not feel that impulse in sufficient strength 
- to keep what ¢heir mothers had, then we would do best to hark back to the 
great grandmothers, where at last we shall arrive at some dignity and har- 
mony and sense in style. | 

It is a good place here to point out some of the features in furnish- 
ings which were distinctive in the middle Atlantic states, and which usually 
go by the name “ Pennsylvanian.” 


148 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


The settle, with a paneled back and often with a hooded top, and 
with a fine ramp on the arm, is more frequently found in Pennsylvania 
than elsewhere. We have observed there also several instances of settle 
beds, two of them being in beautifully finished walnut. The seat swings 
outward and downward. Near the bottom thus disclosed there are bed 
rails which are made a part of the piece of furniture, and sustain a corded 
bed close to the floor. The rails are cut in two at the ends in order to 
fold with the seat. This is a very curious and important article in furni- 
ture. It is one more evidence that the devices which we call modern were 
useful in an early day, and in a form perhaps superior to our own. 

The cupboards found in Pennsylvania are interesting in their scalloped 
cornices, the scallop being under the molding and forming the upper part 
of the opening to the top shelf. The scrolled edge comes forward 
rapidly at the bottom of the side member which sustains the shelves, and 
forms a sort of foot to hold the upper section of the cupboard on the 
dresser. In the good specimens, the molding is of the eighteenth-century 
type. There is often a light rail between the shelves to prevent the dishes 
from falling forward. There is generally a series of slots on one shelf 
for a row of spoons. For illustrations, the reader is referred to the author’s 
Furniture of the Pilgrim Century. A variation of these cupboards was a 
smaller form suspended on the wall, with similar scrolls. It often ac- 
companied a cupboard of similar width, placed on the floor below, and 
with the top arranged for a wash-stand or a mixing bowl. The corner 
cupboards, with handsomely paneled doors, existed in great numbers. In 
fact, a good Pennsylvania house was supplied with such a great number 
and variety of cupboards as to make them an impressive feature. No 
doubt this peculiarity arose from the heavy stone construction of the house 
walls. A northern house would have had its cupboard built in, with doors 
matching the other doors of the dwelling, and with lath and plaster. We 
feel that the Pennsylvanian type was far superior. 

The cradles in use in Pennsylvania were often attractively scrolled, and 
with the hand hold in the shape of a heart or a shield at either end, and 


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150 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


with a series of knobs on the outside, near the top, to which was buttoned 
the coverlet. 

The distinctive chair of Pennsylvania is the arched slat back, rising in 
the better instances to six, and, in rare examples, to seven slats. The chair 
is one of the most striking and attractive ever made. Furthermore, it 
is very comfortable. It was, in the original state, made with enlarged 
balls upon the front feet, though these have for the most part been sawed 
off. 

The tables sometimes belong to the library and at other times to the 
kitchen, with a large one piece top, and something like two by four feet 
in dimensions, often had an attractively scalloped frame, and were of 
heavy turning with stretchers. The knobs were always very large on the 
drawers, of which there were generally two or three of unequal length. 

The chests of Pennsylvania (page 287) were in the finest examples of 
walnut. We find them also in pine and poplar, but never, so far as we 
have observed, in oak. The feet ordinarily were in the form of brackets, 
and the better examples were paneled and often had inlaid initials. Some 
very handsome designs, together with others less handsome, were painted 
on chests. The tulip design predominates, the motive being either Dutch 
or derived from the Dutch by the Germans. So persistent has style and 
custom been in Pennsylvania that these chests, found as early as 1700, 
are also observed in nearly the same style as late as the Civil War. 

The walnut highboys of a plain kind are also characteristic of this state. 
The more ornate pieces of Savery and in the style of Savery are very much 
enriched by carving, and have bonnet tops with a cartouche and flames. 
These pieces, of course, belong to the richer houses, and the mahogany 
period, though walnut was used to a very late date on fine furniture in 
Pennsylvania. 

The wall decorations, aside from the conventional paintings, such as 
would be purchased by persons of wealth and taste, were samplers or old 
prints. 

We have not observed in the Pennsylvania Museum that much atten- 


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BUCKS COUNTY 155 


tion has yet has been paid to the characteristic pieces of Pennsylvania, es- 
pecially the chests. No doubt this will be remedied in time. 

~ It will be understood from the previous review that there was more 
harmony between the furniture and the wall in Pennsylvania than in north- 
ern dwellings. The color of the furniture and the wall blended happily. 

Out of doors, the shingles or the slate were almost harmonious with 
the stone in many cases, or were in agreeable shadings suggesting the same 
color scheme. 

The glassware made so famous by Stiegel and other makers is now 
sought after with the greatest avidity, so that little pieces which were prob- 
ably sold for a few cents are now held at many hundreds of dollars. Of 
course a Pennsylvania home which retains, or can retrieve a few of these 
pieces, feels itself especially fortunate, and glass of course puts the last 
touches to the decorations of a home. 

The slip ware, so common in Pennsylvania generations go, and so 
generally used, is quite ordinary pottery except for the strong local flavor 
imparted by the decorations. These are of the quaintest character, es- 
pecially the inscriptions. Shiny limousines may be seen here and there on 
the remote hill roads. Their owners are engaged in a thrilling, though 
often futile, effort at bargaining for some of the old slip ware. In the 
hill homes, however, where the traditions of family and the pride of 
architecture do not so often exist, it is often possible to effect an exchange 
satisfactory to both parties. The slip ware is now counterfeited. 

It occurs to us that several utensils used in Pennsylvania may, with 
interest, be mentioned. One is the large splayed bread tray with four 
splayed legs, a sharply localized institution. It indicated a large family and 
a wholesale baking. The water bench is another strictly local affair. It was 
a low shelf, often with cupboards below, and a board running up at each 
side in a scroll form, with a shelf above, and a drawer, the front of which, 
in some instances, is made on a curve corresponding with the scroll. These 
benches were long enough for two farm hands to lave themselves side by 


156 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


side. The drawer could be used for towels, one shelf for the basins and 
one shelf for the pails. 

The Windsor chair, which also seems to have originated in Pennsyl- 
vania, so far as America is concerned, and to have remained there in its 
quainter and heavier forms, is now becoming rare and an object of worth 
and desire. 

The utensils of iron within and without a Pennsylvania home were 
legion. In “An Ancient Kitchen,” page 70, is shown a West Chester fire- 
place, though unfortunately a small one. The more interesting features 
are the small portable charcoal stove, the trivets, the toasters, the sus- 
pended griddle, and the pewter. The bellows are seen hanging at the left, 
together with an adjustable ceiling light. Of course the firearms were 
always kept over the fireplace to keep the power dry. The fat lamp, 
called in New England a Betty lamp, immediately over the gun stock, was 
very much used in Pennsylvania. In the better forms it was made double, 
as here, so that the lower portion might catch the drip. This picture shows, 
on the left, one of the six-back chairs so attractively arched, to which we 
have already referred. We show in the later pages of this volume the 
end of a loom-stool (page 285) owned by Mr. William B. Montague of 
Norristown. It is attractively painted in a tulip design, and there is a 
stanza in German below the slits. The loom-stool was not found in New 
England so far as we know, but only a board which must be held between 
the knees or tied to a chair. In the loom-stool, so called, one end held 
the board here shown, and near the other end was a small windlass reel. 
These looms were used for weaving narrow goods, like tape and garters, 
and were sometimes called garter looms. They should not be confused 
with the huge affairs on which yard-wide goods were woven. 

An oddity peculiar to this region is also the buttonhole ‘cutter (page 
24.5), a four-rayed example of which we show. The points of different 
widths were used to cut buttonholes of the sizes desired, by striking a 
hammer on the tool applied to the goods laid on a cutting board. The 


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AN ARTIST’S NOOK, NEAR NEW HOPE 


158 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


pointed ray or spoke was used for making eyelets for embroidery. The 
hammers also formed part of the buttonhole set, and were often wrought 
in quaint forms and used as gift pieces to sweethearts. This example is 
unique so far as we know, with the various spokes, each twisted. 

Another peculiarity was the double ended utensil with a fork and a 
cake turner (page 244). Our example shows the open heart in the shovel 
end. Sets of four or five pieces consisting of fork, flapjack turner, ladle 
and skimmer, were common. They were all hand-hammered, of soft gray 
iron. Occasionally, however, the bowl is in hammered copper. In the 
handle, in rare examples, as Mr. William B. Montague’s set, initials were 
inlaid in brass. 

The rolling pin, of the better type, had a double roll and a handle 
above, and was of walnut, decorated. It would stand alone. The long 
wooden ladle for the apple-butter was another picturesque utensil. In 
another volume we have shown at length the various applied hardware 
of a Pennsylvania dwelling. We take this occasion to refer to some of 
the quaint iron work used out of doors. 

The pump spout was sometimes supported by twisted and scrolled 
iron brackets. The immensely long and picturesque sickles for the grain 
were used up to a recent time. The goose and pig and calf yokes are 
most homelike in their appeal. Quaint hay cutters, pig catchers and short 
scythes help to form the complement of the farm tools. 

The wagon work in Pennsylvania was as characteristic and substantial 
as the other domestic manufactures. The sides of the wagons were often 
paneled. In the northern part of the state the wagon seat now used as 
a small settle was somewhat in evidence, though this quaint affair is com- 
moner in New York state. It is erroneously called a love seat, though 
no doubt many a young man and maid have found it, as they journeyed 
to town, a kind of courting seat. 

The time was marked, in the ancient day, by sun dials and sand glasses, 
though the stomach was often a sufficiently sure indicator of the noon 
hour, so much so, indeed, that one farmer used to say that he could tell 





BUCKS COUNTY 159 


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THE RIVER BANK, HONESDALE 


the time by his stomach within five minutes of correctness. So much for 
the regular habits of the Pennsylvanian! 

We show one or two examples of the remarkably good combination 
locks and latches of iron, which we have found in Pennsylvania (page 277 
and page 193). The more elaborate of these somewhat resembles the 
still finer sort found in the Old World, especially German examples, from 
the region whence the Pennsylvania settlers came. The oddest feature 
about these latches is that the exterior handle was in the nature of a some- 
what cumbrous scroll, and was attached by a very short screw thread. 
When the family went to market or retired for the night, this was un- 
screwed and it was a notice to the public that privacy was desired. It an- 
swered the same purpose as the pulling in of the latch string in the cruder 


160 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


and earlier day. The appliance would be awkward in a modern pocket, 
but in the old days the larger this screw handle was, the less likely was 
it to be lost. Perhaps after the Saturday’s visitation to the inn, it was 
convenient to have a key that would jump up into one’s hand! 

We cannot leave this subject without noting a feature of decoration 
which has long delighted the writer, namely the carved or painted spoon 
rack, on which were displayed, in two of three rows, a dozen pewter 
spoons brilliant with polishing, while at the base of the contrivance there 
was often a drawer in which the knives and forks were stored (pages 257 
and 265). All these racks seem to show a Dutch influence, and indeed 
we are able to trace the style to a particular province in Holland — Fries- 
land. They are therefore more common in New Jersey than in Pennsyl- 
vania, but one or two of these examples were found in the latter state. 
No more pleasing wall ornament could be devised for a living room. That 
always desirable feature, the combination of decoration and use in one 
article is found in the spoon rack. 

There are instances in Pennsylvania where the entire wall is decorated 
with stencils or scrolls on the plaster. 


LOOKING GLASSES 


HE Pennsylvania Museum, in a recent bulletin, has shown a score or 

so of interesting labels found on the backs of looking glasses made 

by John Elliott. He was born at Bolton, England, in 1713, emigrated to 

America in 1753, and died in 1791. His name and that of his son of the 

same name, and those of his grandsons John and Daniel, are affixed on 

the backs of many Pennsylvania looking glasses. Most of the advertise- 

ments show a bell and a looking glass, below which there is descriptive 

text. The advertisements cover the years 1758-1759, in the article re- 

ferred to. One in the Pennsylvania Journal, March 23, 1758, is as 
follows: 


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TALKING WATER. By Sladen after Nutting 


162 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


Juft imported from London, and to be fold by 
JOHN ELLIOT, 
At his looking-glafs ftore, the fign of the Bell and LOO ae giale 
in Cheftnut Street Philadelphia. 
A neat affortment of looking-glaffes: viz., Piers, feonces, dreff- 
ing- glaffes, fwingers, pocket glaffes, ink and fand bottles with 
brafs covers. He alfo new quickfilvers and frames old glaffes, 
and fupplies people with new glafs to their frames. 


The inference from this advertisement is that at this late date looking 
glasses were still for the most part imported. As we see, however, that 
Elliott quicksilvered old glasses and did general repairing, we may be- 
lieve that the country was edging toward the manufacture of the glass. 
The time coincides with glass making in Pennsylvania, but we doubt if 
the superior quality of plate was produced until many years later. In ~ 
one of the other advertisements an offer to make frames was recorded. 
The swinging glasses of course referred to the glass set upon a dressing 
table for the use of a lady, or as a shaving glass. 

Elliott’s use of the bell in his sign indicated that he also provided 
door and call bells for dwellings. 


IN AND AROUND PHILADELPHIA 


UCH a multitude of books showing houses of the late colonial period 
have shown the dwellings of Germantown and the other well known 
houses of Philadelphia, that we do not presume to offer pictures of those 
dwellings again to the public. We have therefore, of set purpose, ex- 
cluded entirely from this volume any of the conventional subjects, except- 
ing only the picture of Independence Hall (page 120) without which a 
Pennsylvania book would be as incomplete as a Dutch garden without 
tulips. 





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IN AND AROUND PHILADELPHIA 167 


We have, however, found, in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia, 
a good many themes in which blossoms or streams appear. The cross 
roads in this vicinity, some of which are not yet improved, are still bor- 
dered by picket fences (page 14), and filled in spring with the aroma of 
apple blossoms. A little farther out, as in “ A Pennsylvania Homestead ” 
(page 18) there is the fascination of the farm drive, as we approach one 
of those self contained old centres of rural plenty. In Philadelphia itself, 
Cobb’s creek is, in many of its aspects, most attractive. It is on pages 57, 
292, and elsewhere. In the northeast part of the city is a pleasing old 
dam showing a church spire beyond (page 280). 

We have followed the Wissahickon in all its windings. It is less so- 
phisticated than the Schuylkill, and is deservedly known for the beauty 
of its banks as seen on page 58, and particularly on page 17, where the 
white cherry blossoms are poised lovingly on gracefully curved branches 
above the stream. 

Philadelphia is unique among the cities of America, and perhaps the 
cities of the world, in that it contains many rural, or at least many semi- 
urban areas, such as the great tree with the cottage under its arms, on 
page 90. 

Were not the estates about Philadelphia so generally made park-like, 
they would be far better for artistic purposes. We have shown an old 
homestead, or at least the restoration of one, on page 137 in a sketch. 

So much can be made of gateways that we are glad to see the simpler 
sort in Pennsylvania, since they encourage citizens in general to attempt 
some aesthetic touches. “A Home Entrance at Reading” (page 210) 
“The Cottage Tree” (page 205) near Boyertown, “ The Little L ” near 
Zionsville (page 204), “ The Picket Fence Row” and “The Gable Hid- 
den in Blossoms” (page 196), a cottage almost completely hidden in 
bloom and beyond an old fence (page 184) and particularly “The Home 
Fence ” (page 185), are examples which, found in particular about Zions- 
ville, may be seen in somewhat similar form in many portions of the state. 


168 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


“ Over the Rail Fence” (page 165) and “ Come In” (page 166), are 
both entrances to farms. Yet none of these examples shows the massive 


gate post of a place which too often gets its appellation of estate from the 
entrance alone. 

Philadelphia has done much for America by its persistence in continu- 
ing the one family house. Modern methods of locomotion have assisted 
the city dweller so that he now may have this house in the midst of rural 
acres, or at least a rural half acre. We owe a great deal to those who, in 
the city of Philadelphia itself, or on its border line, have established places 
led to by the shadowed, fenced, and water bordered “ Suburban Home 
Drive” (page 293). 

The lover of his country must line up at once in protection of the 
home, a place where children may be reared in good air and in safety 
to their persons, and with at least an opportunity for development of 
sound minds in sound bodies. If we are to have an America worth hous- 
ing and decorating, we must have families clothed and in their right minds. 
In their present largely unclothed condition, they can scarcely be sup- 
posed to be in their right minds. It would almost seem that the more 
available the means of providing clothing are, the less are those means 
used. Those with the least property seem to wear the most clothing. 
We seem to wonder whether it is the intention of vicious wealth to dis- 
pense with clothing altogether. Clergymen find this an awkward subject — 
to deal with. They are either too modest to approach it or they feel the 
futility of doing so. Indeed, it seems to be only in the Catholic church 
that there is any courage in this respect. But without decency we shall 
soon be without homes, and without homes we shall soon be without a coun- 
try. The Frenchman, the German, the Englishman and the American have 
_ built their literature, their thought, and their religion about the home. 
Careful students, however, have observed that love of home in China is 
far more intense than among our western races. It is a fair inference that 
as this family feature is the strongest characteristic of the Chinese, it has 

[Text continued on page 179.| 





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THE LEAP OF THE LEHIGH 


By Miuprep Hoses 


Into a terraced basin leaps 

The Lehigh with a burst of song, 

Free from the long 

Monotonous confinement of its shore 

Whose trees for many a mile 

Leaned close with gentle sighs, 

And where it could but murmur low and smile 
Into the distant azure of the skies. 

But over its trembling edge, 

Free, with a sudden rush and roar, 

Its waters plunge and leap in wild abandon — 
Rough children out of school — 

Into the whirling playground of a pool. 

In iridescent clouds of foam they play, 

In silver sheets 

Torn to a thousand ribbons by the rocky ledge. 
And clear against the cascades, snowy-churned, 
With jewels flashing on her sunlit brow, 
Sleeps the fair Goddess Liberty with face upturned 
To catch the kisses of the river-spray. 


How like a carnival of life it seems 

When the blue current of the water breaks 

To myriads of scintillating rainbow-flakes 

Awhirl in the mad frolic of the falls! 

They too return to drowsy murmurings and dreams 
To carry on the purpose of the Giver. 

How like all nature’s wild things is a river, 
Bounding with ecstasy when freedom calls! 
Making majestic music of its symphony 

To liberty! 


170 








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IN AND AROUND PHILADELPHIA 179 


more to do with their immense vitality and the age-long continuance of 
their nation than any other one thing. 

They are different from ourselves in this, also, that they make beauty 
a part of their worship; that they make pilgrimages sometimes daily for 
aesthetic reasons only, and that they set apart, as a sacred hour, the oppor- 
tunity to caress with their eyes the things which God has made. 

We depend upon Philadelphia to begin an American reform. There, 
where family meant more, perhaps, than elsewhere in America, let the 
family once more be exalted to its place as the beginning of religion and 
culture, of civilization and art. The people who do not love their homes 
will not long love anything else. If they are bored at home, everything 
eventually will bore them. When recreation becomes a business, and the 
home a barrack, we have reversed an order which lies deep in human 
nature, and which cannot be sucessfully contravened. The glorification 
of the home, externally and internally, as the shrine of a steady family 
love, is the first object of importance for patriotism and religion. Unless 
marriage means a family, it will not long mean a home. The interplay 
of human relations as they exist between various members of a family, 
big and little, supplies the only general available education in unselfish- 
ness. It is either home or anarchy. There is no middle ground. Any 
person without a powerful controlling motive of decency is dangerous if 
left at large. On the other hand, imprisonment has never, so far as we 
have scanned history, been a very successful beneficent influence. A good 
home in one’s youth means less prison. At the last it will be found that 
the persons who don’t go home, go to jail, or ought to do so. 

To those who think these conclusions are strange, we would point out 
that it is the wandering foot that gets into mischief. We are ready to 
make a somewhat bold assertion, namely; that it is the moral duty of in- 
telligent people to have beautiful homes. That is to say, if their loves 
are deep and their intelligence broad, they will study to decorate the home 
and its surroundings in such a manner as to afford no excuse for leaving it. 
The sordid motive of building rich houses and getting this and that sort 


180 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


of furniture because one’s neighbors do the same, may thus be done away 
with, and the father and mother may give their attention to those elements 
of charm which provide cosiness. We have no good word to describe the 
resultant attraction from a combination of small, though cunningly de- 
vised grounds, walls, and furnishings. Bareness and sordidness are prob- 
ably unnecessary in any American home. The crusade for attractive homes 
is the call of the age. If we could give up all our other special days and 
make every day an Old Home Day, we should discover that this matter 
lies at the bottom of our civic and social problems. If as much study were 
given to this question as to any other one of a dozen unimportant matters, 
the home life of America, now in danger, would become so much better 
than it is now as to empty most of the jails, fill the country with plenty, — 
and working out from this one perfect institution, make all institutions 
perfect. If we ask ourselves how many of our institutions are substitutes 
for a home, we shall find that an ideal society, or even a moderate degree 
of approximation toward the ideal, would make unnecessary a great deal 
of our vicious institutionalism. Intemperance, immorality, insanity, theft, 
cruelty, and most of the other horrors come from bad homes. 

One is never so much impressed with this fact as when one is seeking 
for daintiness or even picturesqueness along the countryside. ‘There are 
plenty of large dwellings; there are plenty of dwellings, which, while 
not large, could be made attractive. But what one might call a picture 
house, which every house might be, is one of the rare things. Such a 
dwelling is really one of a thousand. When it is found, everyone pauses 
to look at it. We have in mind such a dwelling only one story in height, 
pictures of which by the hundred thousand have been eagerly sought all 
over the civilized world. This house could probably have been erected 
for a thousand dollars, certainly for much less than twice that sum. Mil- 
lionaires look at it with envy. Almost as we write, one of the first men 
of wealth in our country has showed us pictures of a miniature country 
place where he and his wife dwell for eight months in the year, and which 

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Written for the picture facing this page by Mitprep Hosss 


Little Road — 
“ Follow me over 
The billowing hills 
Dotted with gardens 
And little stone houses, 
Past the wide acres 
Of buckwheat and corn, 
Past the green fields 
Where the golden herd browses!” 


Little Stream — 
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The vale and the wood, 
Through the lush grasses 
Of velvety meadows. 
Come where the flute-throated 
Lark and the thrush 
Sing with the whispermg 
Winds of the willows!” 


Little Road — 

“ Follow me, follow me, 
Vagabond feet! 
Yours is no humor 
For bubbles and fountains! 
Follow me, follow me 
Over the hills, 
Far to the forest-filled 
Heart of the mountains!” 


182 





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IN AND AROUND PHILADELPHIA 187 


absorbs a great deal of his time, because it holds his love. He takes far 
more pleasure in it than in his stately city dwelling. Nevertheless it is 
very slowly that people, otherwise intelligent, are learning to take up this 
important matter. There is still a quite general ignorance of the elements 
which constitute charm. There is almost no study of harmony except the 
harmony of colors. 

We are, however, delighted to see the vigor of the efforts being put 
forth by so many to change current conditions. We even have a maga- 
zine devoted to the beauty of the home. Most magazines, in fact, have 
a department given over to that object. Whoever has any worth while 
ideas on the subject finds a ready hearing. It is inevitable that much that 
is crude and covetous should appear in this connection. Is there any as- 
pect of life without its extravagances and dangers? 

Thus we see small houses apparently erected to bid for the attention 
of home lovers, but covered with numerous useless gimcracks and spurious 
pretensions to old style. The expense is lavished where it isn’t wanted 
and saved where it is necessary. All this is to be overcome through a 
more general study of the subject and a more careful making sure that 
what advertises itself as the desirable thing is really so. In other words, 
the toning up of general knowledge and the attention of the body of our 
people to this theme, becomes the engrossingly important matter of modern 
life. The question of well drained soils, proper outlook, good distance 
from the highway, ample ground, proper shade trees, simplicity of con- 
struction along well approved lines, the abandonment of pretension, the 
correlation of parts —all this, taken up in detail, forms not only the most 
profitable but one of the most interesting of studies. 


188 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


THE CANALS OF PENNSYLVANIA 


HILE these canals are still used to a limited extent in the trans- 

portation of coal, they are getting more and more to feed the aes- 

thetic sense, to supply Lover’s Lane on the old tow paths, and to bring 
a touch of poetry into the counties through which they pass. 

An old lock on the Delaware canal a dozen miles or so below Easton, 
shown on page II with its tow path, its watery highway, the high cliffs 
on the right, the fine shade trees and the distant lock and mill, seem to be 
more especially provided to feed our aesthetic sense than for any other 
purpose. 

Some miles above New Hope, appreciative artists have gathered and 
made a seasonal colony on the canal. They have succeeded in glorifying 
beyond our common dreams the region of their choice. Their school 
house is one of their most successful achievements (page 253). The tree 
decoration along canals is the perfect opportunity for arching boughs to 
display themselves. 

In many portions of the state the canals have become the most attrac- 
tive features. They emphasize, of course, the height of a bluff, the depth 
of a valley, and the location of a village. Where, as often happens, they 
must cross a stream, their arches become a decorative feature. The spill- 
Ways are miniature cascades. Particularly the numerous bridges which 
must cross the canals are the favorite resorts of boys who attempt to lure 
the darting fish. . 

If at last the span of patient mules be seen, driven by a youngster with 
a flapping straw hat, and towing a blunt-ended boat, deeply laden, the last 
charm is added to the drowsy effect. Every year improves the beauty of 
the canals. Would we might all grow old as gracefully! The rawness 
of freshly filled banks and the commercial exploitation which accompanied 
the building of canals has long since passed away. Only their poetry is 
left. The tow path is a ribbon road. Foliage encroaches everywhere. 











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190 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


The inns, the dwellings, and even the storehouses and mills along the line 
have mellowed and softened and rounded and become covered with lichen 
or vines, and all things contribute to add the charm of romance to the 
charm of beauty. 

A canal, however, is a constant reminder of the rapid manner in which 
the nineteenth century changed all outlooks and abolished old traditions. 
Since the beginning of time, civilization has found its first development 
on the shore of a canal. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, and also probably 
in Central America, a civilization arose in an irrigated country. The litera- 
ture remaining which connects itself with the inception of canals predicted 
all sorts of national development from their use. No sooner, however, 
were they fairly under way than they became obsolete. Of a sudden, 
that mode of civilization was brought to an end. Within a brief time the 
feverish and even wildly thoughtless development of the trolley system 
in rural districts has also been found to be a mistake. Everywhere our 
smooth highways are a temptation for the development of a bus system. 
Undoubtedly we are moving along some other lines that will have to be 
abandoned. We live in an intensely changeful age and it becomes there- 
fore highly important that we should seek to harmonize all this develop- 
ment with such attention to beauty as is possible. 

We are glad that the trolley is passing away because we shall be rid 
of its poles and its noise, both of which are as nearly destructive to human 
peace as anything touching the senses can be. 


BEAUTY SPOTS HERE AND THERE 


WOOD road partly grown up is one of the best things we know to 
feed the heart. One such is seen in “A Leaf Strewn Drive” 
(page 16). A drive along a small mill dam, as “ A Lake Bank Drive ” 
(page 18) is inevitably attractive because the changing stream and cloud, 
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message for us. A little north of Philadelphia, by the great high road, 
is the old homestead shown on page 21. The pear tree at its gable was 
enough to stop us. Its rambling out-houses, which do not here appear, 
gave a sense of plenty and picturesqueness. 

Although we are not supposed to cross the Susquehanna westerly, we 
have shown just one picture made at Gettysburg. It is free of any touch 
reminding us of the battlefield. 

On page 30 is a little by-road bordered by a rail fence with the slate 
posts of which we have spoken. We do not know whether these ever ap- 
pear in the Old World, but certainly they are the most picturesque features 
for a field fence that we have ever seen in this country. The guide post 
reading “‘ Tatamy — 4 mi.” is an amusing instance of odd place names. 

On the same page is shown the pleasing entrance of a community 
building of the Moravians in Bethlehem. It has a panel over the door 
in which is set a medallion and an historic record. One is permitted to 
wander through the interior of this building and to see the comfortable 
widows who are here furnished a home by the church. Up and down 
the corridors their doors stand open, and most of them make sweetmeats 
or fancy work to assist in their support. Their reverential life and quiet 
manner are a benediction. 

On page 53 we show a fine “ Old Chester Dwelling.” Not that it is 
particularly different from others, but that it is an excellent type. It 
avoids the error noticeable in some Pennsylvania houses of the middle 
period, in that it possesses the fine large chimneys and the L as well as 
the main house. It is of stone neatly whitened. The residence is more 
pretentious than it seems, the most being made of the building and the 
grounds. 

“The Harvest Field ” (page 69) takes us into the very heart of the 
country in the golden autumn, with its piles of pumpkins, its shocks of 
corn, and its gable of the stone farm house with its large chimney, and 
with its fruit trees surrounding it. There is something about a pumpkin 
to make a rural poet of every man. The use to which we put the pump- 





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kin on All Hallows Eve, the comfortable lining which it supplied for our 
voracious stomachs in boyhood, its rich color, as it is scattered over a field, 
symbolizing the plenty of autumn, and even giving a superabundant rich- 
ness of effect to the landscape, helped out by the peeping ears of corn of 
the same hue, are elements to set the mouth watering, if not the eyes. It 
is useless to reason that the pumpkin is the poor relation of the squash, 
to contend that it is merely fit for animals, to say that it is not a profitable 
crop and to make all manner of unkind remarks about it. Let us silence 
such folly. The pumpkin is the crown and jewel of good old country 
sentiment. Long may it decorate the old stone fence post at the back door, 


194 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


and prove the inspiration for every rural bard! We should be thankful 
for anything that is able to turn the mind from the exclusively practical. 
We have scarcely yet found “a soul so dead,” as not to be aroused by the 
pumpkin. Logically or otherwise, it compels the old man to think of the 
girl whom he serenaded fifty years ago, of the fright he gave his chum 
by holding the jagged teeth and the gleaming countenance of the 
jack o” lantern at his window. What would American country life be 
without the pumpkin? It is a solace for most sorrows and casts a ruddy 
glow over the memory of a lost boyhood. Bearing these facts in mind, 
who shall say that the pumpkin does not pay? Whether we eat it or look 
at it or picture it, it seems quite adequate to stir the common man, and as 
Lincoln said, “there are so many of us.” ‘That man is fit for no good 
society who no longer loves a pumpkin. He wouldn’t make a good hus- 
band, and his patriotism is a suspicious quantity. That colonial yellow, 
that oblate spheroid, that series of longitudinal lines which first vividly 
illustrated our childhood geography, that homely abundance and demo- 
cratic nearness of the pumpkin, so free from the beloved modern word 
“ exclusiveness” all hold us in thrall. 

The David Rittenhouse birthplace restored, as it has been, by Mr. 
Ballard, and as shown on page 93, is now likely to be a permanent monu- 
ment to the remarkable man whose name it bears. For heroism we have 
little need to look far. Even genius is discoverable, semi-occasionally. A 
high sense of honor is common. Fine scholarship is the mark of many 
Americans. <A genial, social, and sweet nature is not far to seek. To find 
all these characteristics in one man, however, is almost miraculous. Who 
among us has not wished that Washington had been somewhat more of 
a scholar? and that this and that national worthy had possessed some miss- 
ing element which we like to find in men? David Rittenhouse was unique 
in this country, in some of his abilities, and did and thought for his ‘coun- 
try for many years, though frail and often in great illness. When we con- 
sider the time at which he lived and the inventive genius he displayed, 
and think how he was, in the finer sense, self-made, and how his capacity 





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BEAUTY SPOTS HERE AND THERE 199 


and his character commended itself to his age and to successive generations, 
we feel that in Rittenhouse we have a fine type of an ideal American. 

In the Delaware Water Gap, the most attractive scenery to us is not 
that which people go so far to view, but the little stream that flows through 
the village, bordered by quaint houses and overhung by shade trees or 
reflecting the blossomy spring (page 163). 

At the edge of old Bethlehem is a stately dwelling now given over 
to neglect. We show the door (page 164). The sketch over the key- 
stone, in the form of a carved tree like a sampler pattern, and the other 
dainty carving of the doorway, is carried out to a considerable extent in the 
cornice, not shown. It is a pity that this old dwelling, bought with a large 
tract of land by a corporation, could not be redeemed. 

We love to find even in a village something like “ The Cottage Tree ” 
(page 205). In the double twist of the road here, and in a quaint bridge 
nearby, we find all the best elements which compose an English village, 
set down in a dear little valley near Boyertown. 

The old forges of Pennsylvania are among the spots being visited by 
explorers. We have been furnished by Mr. Carl W. Drepperd of Lan- 
caster with the picture of the ancient forge on page 218. Its over-shot 
water wheel marks it as an old timer. The tentative beginnings of the 
iron industry in Pennsylvania are surrounded with romance. They are 
the more interesting since they symbolize that dominant world-wide power 
and importance which America has acquired in this day through its un- 
precedented vast development of the iron and steel industry. 

In “A Little Hill City ” (page 248) we look down upon the valley 
of the upper Susquehanna at the village of the same name. It is for the 
_ most part a railway centre. Its setting, however, among the fine hills, is 
the most perfect that we have noted as an industrial location. 

It is not often that we find the strawberry blossoms absolutely carpet- 
ing the earth, as on the stream bank picture (page 249). It is in Berks 
County, north of Reading. | 

To our thought, the “ Twin Tree Homestead” (page 250) forms an 


200 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


almost perfect approach to a farm place. “The Ribbon Road” and the 
gentle upward slope with the overhanging blooms sheltering the dwelling 
is very satisfactory to the sentiments. The other picture on the same page, 
in a valley three or four miles west of West Chester, gives us the pleasure 
of a curve, a wall, and a slope with blossoms. 

The country about Zionsville is most attractive in the spring as it ap- 
pears in the pictures heading pages 260 and 261. 

Swarthmore, near Old Chester, has a distinctive flavor always charac- 
teristic of college towns. The stream here has this year a wealth of foliage 
almost tropical.. It appears on pages 267 and 2091. 


QUAINT UTENSILS 


HE candle molds used in Pennsylvania were usually, like the other 
utensils of this state, designed to accomplish a great deal at once, 
but the earliest sort were single, as on page 225. These formed very large 
candles. A still earlier form, however, was the dipped candle. In Penn- 
sylvania a very large reel was used from each of eight arms of which de- 
pended a wick. Each wick in turn was dipped in the hot tallow and the 
affair was revolved. By the time the circuit was made, the wick first 
dipped had hardened its tallow, and the process was repeated, the candle 
growing gradually and requiring a great many immersions, 

The pie scallopers were developed in various quaint and even artistic 
forms owing to the fact that they were often gift pieces to sweethearts. 
At one end was an old fashioned cent filed into scallops, and at the other 
end there was a crescent shaped head with serrated edges. This end was 
used to pierce the dough to permit the gases to escape, and the other end 
was used to decorate the edge of the pie. 

A most quaint work table originating either in Pennsylvania or New 
Jersey, is one of the writer’s latest and most cherished acquisitions. On 
page 191 we give a sketch of it. The trestle frame going up in the form 


QUAINT UTENSILS 201 


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of steps, the central brace board with half-moon cut-outs, the hand holds 
for the cubbies where the work was kept, and the rim formed about the 
top by the molding, constitute one of the most interesting old pieces 
imaginable. ; 
A combination affair which might have proved convenient for an army 
officer, and found at Bethlehem, is sketched on page 232. In the larger 
[Text continued on page 211.| 


ORCHARD BEAUTY 
Written by Mitprep Hosss for picture opposite 


The orchard boughs are lost in tinted clouds 
That hang like scarfs of lace upon the trees 
As Spring unfolds her pollen-laden crowds 

Of blossoms to the hummingbirds and bees. 
Soft petals flutter on the air and strew 

The windings of the lane with fragrant rose; 
They sift among the grasses pearled with dew, 
And drift above the dandelion-glows. 


O fairy trees, most magic gift of spring, 
How it is that in every blossoms place 

The golden days of summer fail to bring 
The crimson of an apple’s ruddy face? 

What wealth of bloom for beauty’s sake alone 
Is lavished on the old trees, petal-blown! 


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QUAINT UTENSILS 211 


end is a little ink well. Just above this section the long portion unscrews. 
That was as far as the seller got. He was considerably astonished when 
we unscrewed the little cap at the extreme top and drew out a pen knife 
from the long tube! Of course the pen knife, when we think of the name, 
was made expressly to mend the quill pen. 

By the side of this quaint article we have sketched another fully as 
odd.- It consists of a steel to strike on a flint. The back of this steel is 
so constructed with tail pieces as to form a pair of tweezers, by which the 
ignited tow was lifted and:applied to a pipe bowl. This forms the smallest 
and quaintest pipe tongs that we have seen. It is only 14 by 34 inches. 

A turned box suitable for holding the church warden pipe, and which 
we believe to be unusual is shown on page 225. 

A series of latches, not hitherto published, and all of which were found 
in Pennsylvania, appears on page 223. The somewhat elaborate heart and 
dart pattern of the middle example, shows a strong feeling of taste. It 
will be noted that some of these latches have no bottom plate, but were 
made with a spur to be driven into the door, very much like the catch on 
a door jamb. 

All the objects shown or mentioned in this book were found after the 
publication of the author’s work Furniture of the Pilgrim Century, the 
later edition. 

We know no greater pleasure on a rainy day than to wander through 
an old Pennsylvania homestead, both house and barn, and to see the proc- 
esses which are or were carried on. The quilting frame, of course, was 
common to all early Americans, but the Pennsylvania housewife has clung 
to it more persistently than have her sisters in other states, so much so 
that she is even now often found making one more quilt. Of course it is 
not needed. It is only wanted. The creative spirit is active and can only 
be satisfied by making something, if it is merely a quilt. But some of 
these quilts are of no small importance. By the odd irony of practical 
life, the dwelling in which no quilt is being made is the dwelling where 
one is needed! 


hy: PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


We did discover several persons who were capable of weaving, but we 
found no weaving being done except to satisfy the desire of some urban 
seeker after hand woven stuff. We have no doubt, however, that there 
are dwellings where weaving is yet being done for the mere love of it. 

The knitting of heavy hose for men for winter use is not yet given up. 
It provides the only covering capable of giving comfort for out of door 
work in the cold weather. 

We fear that the mechanical deftness of the iron worker is becoming 
extremely rare. The vast increase in the demand for cheaply made uten- 
sils in iron, and the giving up of the fireplace as a practical mode of cook- 
ing, have operated to throw the hand-forged utensils out of use. We in- 
quired of various blacksmiths and found few who had ever seen the 
quainter old articles, and none who had ever made them. 

A set of chest hardware, for instance, such as that shown on page 181, 
would antedate any living blacksmith. How full this old work is of a 
nameless charm. When a chest like this was in use, how much character 
it gave to the room in which it stood! 

We presume that hand spinning of flax or wool has also completely 
passed out except in sporadic instances amongst the mountains. An odd 
reel such as that on page 213, used in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, has 
the peculiarity of a table at the centre of the revolving top. There is, 
of course, a mechanism which clicks to warn the winder that the full 
length of the skein has been reached. 


FEATURES OF THE HOMESTEAD 


LTHOUGH the Pennsylvania barn was as a rule very large, the 
labors of the farmer usually overflowed it. He was then obliged 

to raise great stacks of straw, which added very much to the picturesque- 
ness of a homestead. Sometimes even his hay was stacked to some extent. 
In this case, when the cattle were allowed to feed about it, the stack at- 













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214 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


tained the shape of a vast mushroom, and was at once a shelter and a 
dinner for the animals. 

The outbuildings of a farm house were among the more characteristic 
and pleasing features. The well was not seldom completely housed in, 
and was operated by a windlass superseded by a pump in later times. 
Long open sheds protected the farm vehicles. Walls as massive as the 
fortifications of a feudal castle are still to be found surrounding some of 
the barnyards. ‘We remember one instance where the yard lay at the 
edge of a steep valley, and where the wall has run up some twenty feet. 
It really looks like a bastion! These people built for the generations. 
They had the family spirit almost as strongly marked as among the 
Chinese and, living in a country free from earthquakes and with abun- 
dant building material, they patiently laid their stones without regard to 
their size. 

The ducks and geese formed a considerable part of the wealth of the 

farm. Their products were a perquisite of the housewife. The custom 
of keeping large flocks of aquatic fowls was continued from the Old World. 
The immense and innumerable feather beds that resulted are a feature of 
the country place. There were enough feather beds so that every member 
of the household could have several under him and one over him! And 
all of the finest down! 
Of course, in the old days the sheep furnished the clothing for the 
family. The wool was washed while it was still on the sheep’s back, and - 
carding, spinning and weaving were all done at home. Even the leather 
was sometimes tanned in private vats or if not so, there was a tannery not 
far away. It furnished not only material for shoes and boots, but for 
leather aprons, for harness, for upholstery and numerous other purposes. 
A huge settee has recently been found on the very high back of which was 
stretched, as on a frame, great broadsides of cow hide, and more covered 
the seat. The newness of the country and the community life of some 
of the religious bodies which were opposed to the purchase of what could 
be made, all tended to the enhancing of that home charm which arises 
when local fashions predominate. 


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FEATURES OF THE HOMESTEAD 219 


We haven’t mentioned the cheese making on the farm which, to a 
comparatively recent time, was continued and, in odd corners of the state, 
is still carried on. Cheese was a very important factor in diet in the olden 
times, when the herd occupied a larger place in domestic economy than 
it does at present. ‘This fact is hinted at in such old English phrases as 
“ bread and cheese.” 

The presses and other processes of cheese making required a rather cum- 
bersome outfit. These things were often kept in a room apart. The dairy 
Was sometimes attached to a spring house, where the water could be dipped 
up by the pailful as it issued from a living source, and flowed into a reserve 
basin. One who has never had the joy of coming upon a cheese making, 
and being invited to partake of the fresh curds, has lost a memorable experi- 
ence. 

Thus one who would see a farm in being, where everything is carried 
on in a businesslike manner, may reach the goal of his quest in Pennsy]l- 
vania. The farmer himself is large and strong, and so are his wife and 
children. All the buildings were large, all the vehicles and tools and 
processes attained the most ample size. The Conestoga wagon would 
hold twice as much as a New England wagon. The farmer in the field 
carried on no one-horse enterprise. Whereas, in many other parts of the 
country, especially northeast of Pennsylvania, a span of horses was the goal 
of ambition, four or perhaps more often six horses were attached to the 
great freight wagons, and the processes of plowing and other field work 
were carried on by three and four horses abreast. We have seen the four 
so working in this very year. They remind one of the Roman quadriga. 

It is easy to understand how a certain contempt has become habitual 
toward farm life. The degenerate farm offers a keen mark for ridicule. 
The farming carried on in the ample way seen on the fine plains of Lancas- 
ter and Bucks and many other fertile counties can only excite the respect 


of the beholder. 


220 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


CHANGES IN PENNSYLVANIA LIFE 


Diss unprecedented growth of coal and iron mining and the immensity 
of the steel industry are operating to change the life of Pennsylvania. 
Indeed, the change has proceeded already to such a marked degree that 
only in the country is life at all what it used to be. The cognate manu- 
factures, stimulated by the wealth of iron and steel, the immense demand 
for brick and cement, the latter of which is really bringing in a new era, 
carry forward still further the modifications of life in Pennsylvania. The 
question before us is how to make use of this development so that it shall 
not destroy the best of the past, but may be availed of to build up a 
twentieth century life agreeable to an aesthetic ideal. For, trailing after 
the practical, sometimes, it is true, at a sad distance, comes the ideal. One 
generation pours the ingots and another generation considers how to re- 
shape the crude material into a harmonious civilization. It is inevitable 
that during this period of change much that is ugly shall appear. The 
foreign cast that has been given many districts in Pennsylvania, where the 
people and their language are hard to understand, presents, of course, to 
the social student, his problem, and to us the question of physical expres- 
sion in landscape architecture and art that is to be wrought out by the new 
generation. | 
There seems to be no doubt that our dwellings, as well as our roads, 
are to be of cement, or of stucco covering tiles. We have to consider 
what sort of edifice, in an aesthetic way, can be created from these ma- 
terials. We immediately look to Italy for an answer to this question. 
Travelers are accustomed to go into ecstasies over the color of Italian edi- 
fices. Asa matter of fact, most of them have no color beyond a white or a 
whitish gray, and when they are colored, they are frequently of a very 
offensive tint. A soft yellowing is the most natural effect to be hoped 
for. But when, as in Italy, we often see brilliant blue or green or other 
strange colors, we hope that there will be a sufficiently powerful influence in 





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222 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


this country to prevent painting it blue. Aside from the color, the question 
of form must largely settle itself as regards simple cottage architecture, be- 
cause it will not be feasible to secure, without too much expense, desir- 
able shapes in cornices and otherwise. We can at least hope that the roofs 
may be slated rather than covered with metal. The question of the walls 
may perhaps best be solved by the growth over them of vines. The danger 
of allowing vines to grow over stone work and of disintegrating the joints 
does not arise in a cement dwelling. Vigorous local propaganda for the 
decoration of cement dwellings is one of the practical ideas suggested. 

Then, as to the gardens, it is a question whether generations of educa- 
tion will encourage sufficiently the creation, within walls, of simple 
flower decorations. Even the descendants of the English families in 
America have largely abandoned the little garden in front of the dwelling, 
so that we need not be surprised if it is very difficult to revive that habit 
among ourselves, and still more difficult to inculcate it among those who 
have recently come to live here. 

The question of highways is being settled rapidly, but a very eagerly 
pursued effort to induce the building of dwellings back from such high- 
ways, is not yet in evidence. Was it ever known that this desirable object 
was taught in school? We have seen coal districts in Pennsylvania with 
passably well located and well built houses. This proves that the thing can 
be done. The surroundings of those houses are not yet at all beautiful. 
Perhaps it will be a hundred years before they become beautiful. By that 
time some different method of heating must come to the fore. Any 
change in that respect must be for the better. If we learn to extract means 
of warmth from chemical combinations derived from the air, or from 
other now unused sources, the presumption is that less dirt will be con- 
nected with the process than that which surrounds the word coal. 

The rapid rise in the price of fuel, despite the use of fuel oils, which 
some supposed would stabilize prices, should be a strong stimulant to the 
lover of the beautiful, that he may consider the effect upon the external 
aspects of a community. The possible use of electrical heat may at length 











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A SERIES OF PENNSYLVANIA LATCHES 


224 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


be a priceless advantage to the aesthetic side of life. Dust, while respon- 
sible for beautiful sunsets, is also responsible for too many other things 
which we gladly leave without description. Given a home without dust, and 
the battle for the beautiful is more than half won. We shall be encouraged 
to construct finer forms both within and without the dwelling, if we can 
feel some assurance that they will not become unsightly on the surface. 

Public building and municipal constructions of all sorts are going 
forward at an alarming pace just now. We say alarming because the ease 
with which money can be borrowed has saddled upon communities debts 
such that taxes must be an almost killing burden for generations. Never- 
theless the expenditure may, in the added convenience of locomotion, and 
in the stimulus to local pride, be worth while. 


RACIAL ELEMENTS AND AESTHETICS 


ENNSYLVANIA is richer in the best racial elements than is any other 
state. "The Swedes and the Dutch were the first settlers. The Ger- 
mans of various religious organizations like the Moravians, and the French 
Huguenots followed. Then, of course, there was the very large element 
of English people who came with Penn or on his invitation. We have 
here, therefore, the five finest racial elements, both as regards character 
in general and the aesthetic arts in particular, if we omit the Italian. 

The Swedish people, it is true, did in some instances find life made 
too hard for them, and returned to the old country. Sweden is rather 
notable for the application of art in carving to domestic architecture and 
furniture. The Dutch also have the same well deserved reputation. The 
Germans were from a region where wood carving and iron work has long 
been a vogue. The French are naturally an artistic people. The English 
people, while not notably susceptible to beauty, nevertheless have in their 
domestic architecture a high repute for the character of their dwellings, 
as regards size, comfort, and substantiality. 4 


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2.26 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


We have, therefore, in Pennsylvania, a very remarkable assemblage of 
races which should have produced a fine development on the aesthetic side. 
The hindrance to such a development was the segregation of races for a 
long time. The religious tenets of a great many of the settlers tended 
to keep them apart from their neighbors of the same race, and still more 
from their neighbors of other races. The development was rather inten- 
sive than broad. Also the lack of good roads set communities off by them- 
selves. Then, whatever we say of the merits of the Germans immigrants, 
which were many and substantial, we cannot say that they entertained gladly 
new ideas from other races. If they had a fault, it was in a certain self- 
sufficiency which led them to believe that their own society was ideal. In 
fact, it was intended to be ideal from their point of view. 

The Friends were given to trade and manufactures rather than to 
agriculture. They were the townspeople rather than the farmers. If they 
owned farms, they were more apt to carry them on at second hand, or to 
use them as summer resorts than otherwise. The Swedes also, for the 
most part, lived by themselves. Altogether there was an unusual and 
peculiar segregation of the different parts of the Pennsylvania colony, 
which meets its counterpart nowhere else in America. 

We should take note that the real settlement was on the banks of the 
Delaware, on both sides and for a long distance. The Wilmington dis- 
trict, in fact Delaware as a whole, was counted as a unit with Penn’s 
colony for some time, but it never relished the proprietary government 
and early sought separation. The same may be said in some respects of 
the West Jersey settlement. 

The Friends themselves, owing to their attitude on war, were often 
sharply at variance with the other colonies and with the king. Penn’s house 
at Pennsbury was very fine for its day, and many of the Friends early ac- 
quired comparative wealth and imported luxuries from England. There 
was, however, a marked lack of homogeneity. Also, there was variance in 
the colony itself. All these reasons, together with others which we cannot 
trace, hindered any marked development of the aesthetic side of life, or a 





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RACIAL ELEMENTS AND AESTHETICS 231 


communication of ideas of beauty from one part of the colony to another. 

It is very likely that we should attribute to the Swedes the carving, or at 
least the shaping, or many articles of use or adornment in the home. To the 
Dutch, also, we certainly owe what is called the Frisian element in carving. 
We should here distinguish sharply between the small and very early ele- 
ment of Dutch settlers, and the larger, later and general settlement of Ger- 
mans. The German objects to being thought of as Dutch, though from 
our American point of view the diligence and spirit of liberty and the other 
steadfast qualities of the Dutch place them as high in our estimation as any 
other race whatsoever, not excepting the English. We can easily under- 
stand, however, that the Germans, in the interest of truth, should be known 
as Germans. Not only so, but they are for the most part of the pre- 
Revolutionary time, and the ruling element among them came over in the 
seventeenth century, or very early in the eighteenth. Germantown, which 
they founded, is sufficiently old and important to serve as an unmistakable 
and lasting monument. Particularly it is a curious and unkindly error to 
confuse them with the Hessians, who settled here after their capture or 
after their discharge from the English service. We do not find that the 
Hessians exercised any very marked influence in the development of 
Pennsylvania. 

Gathering up, then, the threads of the different races, we consider that 
in the domestic arts and their development, as evidenced in the tools and 
the architecture which have remained, the Swedes, the Dutch, and the Ger- 
mans all contributed, but the last in a greater degree than the other two 


together. As to the French element, no doubt some part of the alertness and 


vivacity of the Huguenots entered into the life of Pennsylvania, but we 
doubt if this influence was large. 

The dominant influence in the larger towns was apparently English. 
It is true that the Germans soon developed cities from villages, or at least 
their towns reached a size sufficient to give them a somewhat urban char- 
acter. 

We do not observe that the English settlers contributed to the domestic 


232 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 





PEN KNIFE AND PIPE TONGS AND 
INK WELL STEEL 


arts or architecture to a great extent, in the sense that they gave anything 
new or peculiar to America. They did build in their towns and even on : 
their country estates very solidly, but they followed, just as the Germans 
did in their architecture, the English traditions. There was an inevitable 
modification of English traditions arising out of the materials at hand in 
Pennsylvania. Sometimes we are told with considerable gusto that the 
bricks of this or that house came from England. If this were always a 
fact, it would not indicate that the building was also purely English in style, 
or that it was any better for that. Bricks were brought sometimes as ballast, 





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AND BUTTONHOLE CUTTERS 


2.34 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


perhaps. If not, there was no necessity for bringing them, as all the ma- 
terials were more readily at hand here. The architecture was, of course, 
mostly practical, but more fine public or semi-public buildings existed in 
Philadelphia at one time than in any other American city. 

In the domestic art in the later period such men as Savery stood at the 
head. Of course the preeminence of Stiegel is well recognized, perhaps 
too well. By this we mean that the vogue of his glass has proceeded to an 
extreme. For there were other good makers and undoubtedly it is true, in 
his case as in that of the great furniture makers, that his name and style is 
applied broadly to much with which he had no immediate connection. 
Nevertheless his beautiful work was spread in great quantities, not only 
through Pennsylvania, but in other states where he had warerooms. We 
notice even now, in some villages of Pennsylvania, that glass work, par- 
ticularly the cut glass work, is carried on. In pottery and china the at- 
traction of Trenton has been so strong, for reasons connected with the abun- 
dance of material, and the possible accidental presence of certain artists 
there, as to draw away from Pennsylvania much work of this sort. Indeed, 
Trenton now claims, and probably with justice, to be the greatest world 
center in china and allied manufactures. 

Philadelphia was an early center of the chair industry. The excellence 
and early character of Pennsylvania work in walnut we have mentioned. 
The extent of it we have not fully scanned. Pennsylvania made furniture 
very largely, not only for itself, but for contiguous states like New Jersey, 
Maryland, and even Ohio. A certain style established itself here in the 
mahogany period. It was marked by dignity, solidity, and good craftsman- 
ship. The beautiful walnut of Pennsylvania has been eagerly sought in 
New England, New York, and the west by collectors in these later years. 
The diversified manufactures of Pennsylvania in which the arts of design 
or other elements of beauty enter, are very extensive and now go to the 
ends of the earth. Their rugs and their carpets, their art brick, and the 
thousand branches of manufacture indicate a keeping alive of the love 
of beauty which is the honest inheritance of the Pennsylvanian. 





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RACIAL ELEMENTS AND AESTHETICS 243 


The fine arts in Pennsylvania have, it is probable, come to the fore 
somewhat more than in other states, with the possible exception of New 
York and Massachusetts. Not a few have lavished their wealth freely 
on the collection of the most splendid known paintings that were avail- 
able. By recent decision of the powers that be, a stately museum in Fair- 
mount Park is soon to be completed, which may serve as a beautiful and 
dignified center of public art treasures. The Philadelphian, who has al- 
ways emphasized the home, has adorned it with discrimination. Our work 
leads us to scan, for the most part, the rural, or at least the external 
beauties of the state. We rejoice in the immense field of the fine arts 
as they have been recognized and developed in Philadelphia. We may 
hope that Pennsylvania artists will devote still more attention to the 
peculiar merit of Pennsylvania kitchens. The very popular and always 
delightful products of Dutch painters are largely concerned with sweet 
domestic scenes. Art owes something to history, and it would be a sad 
omission, should the present age pass away without adequate artistic records 
of the homely life in America of the village and the farm, indoors and 
out. The landscapes will always be with us, but the peculiar features of 
the domestic economy are fast passing away, and the architecture of the old 
time will soon follow it. Artists have every incentive to produce delight- 
fully characteristic paintings of the kitchens, living rooms, courtyards, 
and barns of Pennsylvania, as they appear in the Moravian and other 
distinctive neighborhoods. 

The objection to luxury on the part of some of the societies of immi- 
grants, doubtless worked against the production of anything for beauty’s 
sake alone. This very fact, however, restricting their artistic instincts to 
the adornment of necessary articles, probably stimulated art in the home 
instead of choking it. Where else in America can we find articles as quaint 
or interesting, or with as much personality in them, as about the Moravian 
settlements? Probably no one outside of Pennsylvania will record ade- 
quately these distinctive things. If it is done at all, it must be by Pennsyl- 
Vania artists who, being on the ground, are most conveniently able to do 


244 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


this work. Further, their own ancestry and training should naturally 
stimulate them to a desire to record the native craftsmanship. 

We may fairly presume that the resources of Pennsylvania, artistic, 
financial, and patriotic will, in the coming generation, gather into their 
museums the finest specimens of work in the eighteenth century. Not 
only so, but we may hope, possibly we should expect, that sufficient influ- 
ence will be brought to bear on the development of Pennsylvania to secure 
a far greater degree of uniformly good construction and adornment than 
has yet been reached. The wealth of Pennsylvania is incredibly great. It 
would be necessary to use but a small part of it to enchance, in an immense 
degree, the aesthetic attractions of the state. 


ROADS AND. PARKS 


Blan the important end on which we have been dwelling, the 
development of roads and parks will greatly contribute. We do not 
know whether America fully appreciates what a real revolution has come 
about in its roads during the last twenty years. In the extent of miles of 
road built, in their breadth and solidity, there has never been, in the world’s 
history, so stupendous an expenditure. The greatest wars in human history, 
except the last war, did not represent such an outlay. The resources of 
generations in some districts have been tied down for these improvements. 
Nothing short of a rage for roads has manifested itself. Had anyone 
said a score of years ago that billions of dollars would be expended in a 








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ROADS AND PARKS 245 


short time on highways, he would have been considered one more vision- 
ary. Had anyone said that the cost per mile of these highways would far 
exceed the cost of railroads, when they were built, he would have been 
thought a candidate for a madhouse. Yet all this is just what is happen- 
ing. Certain large districts in the south at once extricated themselves from 
hub-deep clay and stand on permanent cement. We have previously men- 
tioned that this is to be a cement age in architecture. Still more is that 
to be a fact as regards highways. The stone walls of America are liter- 
ally disappearing in the roads. Large hills are being eaten away. Deep 
valleys are filled, gorges are crossed, stupendous cuts are made through 
the hills, curves are eliminated and many of the most remote country dis- 
tricts are placed within a few minutes’ spin of all that men have previ- 
ously been obliged to take a day or two in procuring. The historian of the 
next century will be obliged to state that the twentieth century was the 
age of road building. He would be daring who should limit the billions 
that are yet to go into roads in America. For the process is really only 
begun. In the south, the middle west, and the mountain regions one still 
sees that development is contingent upon roads to come. Already the 
rivalry of the public highway with the railway has excited much attention. 
Only the development of the country can support both on a sound basis. 

This era of building, with wealth and raw materials and a demand all 
unprecedented, is doing more to call out the thought of the average citi- 
zen to the beauty of his country than all other agencies combined. John 
Smith and his capable little car can go anywhere, and he means to go almost 
everywhere. A Roman officer of high rank, in his chariot, and with an 
order on the imperial post for relays, was a sluggard and a plebeian in com- 
parison with the ordinary citizen of America. Mounted in his car, he is a 
king. The municipalities vie in furnishing him free parking space, and 
there are ways and means for helping him get about at a minimum of ex- 
pense, if he is kept to that minimum. But your American traveler is not 
much concerned about the minimum. He spends more abroad than all 
other travelers together, and at home what he spends can never be com- 


246 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


puted. With his wife, and perhaps a boy whose eyes are just beginning 
to take in the meaning of life, he sweeps up into the passes of the moun- 
tains and skirts the great lakes and rivers of his country. He sees the vari- 
ous forms of architecture. Vast bridges, steamships, mines, edifices pass 
before his delighted gaze. As the average man will not read, or at least 
will not read anything of much consequence, the educative value of seeing 
the world can scarcely be overestimated. Perhaps two or three journeys 
a year of this sort are worth all the schooling which the boy will get. 
Certainly it will illustrate and enchance the value of the schooling which he 
has received, and bring him back to his books far more alert than when 
he left them. 

We do not overlook the economic and social evils arising from a motor 
mad public. We are here, however, taking stock of the favorable fea- 
tures connected with the new spirit of travel. People are learning geog- 
raphy by illustration. The mountains and the sea about which they have 
read are now before them. Whatever advantages accrue from intercom- 
munication are certainly pouring in on the present day American. The old 
time education of a well-to-do youth in England included a continental 
tour. The American citizen does not even require a competency to under- 
take a more extensive journey. Even as regards foreign journeys, there 
are annually crossing the great water, eastwardly, something like a hun- 
dred times as many persons as Washington had in his army at Valley 
Forge. We may lament that they do not bring back more from their 
journey. Let us be glad for what they do bring back. Of course the test 
of an education is the value of a man’s observations in a given time. But 
it is useless to presume that a person without broad culture will return 
from any journey with any considerable part of the store of valuable in- 
formation possible to gain with a better equipment. The very journey 
itself is in the nature of supplying that equipment. The next journey 
will mean more to the same individual. None of us are so well educated 
but that we see new truth and beauty breaking forth every day from some- 
thing at which we have worked all our life long. If any man sees a hun- 








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ROADS AND PARKS | 251 


dredth part of the beauty or meaning of anything, he is seeing a very 
great deal. The noblest and the greatest mind is only beginning. The 
pride of intellect is the most common and the most shameful of any form 
of pride. We see in children of ten a vast contempt for the ignorance of 
children of seven. This is true of children of a larger growth. 

The roads are to be our most hopeful educators. They are the com- 
mon school of the world awheel. We shall see how other people live. 
One of the finest and most optimistic aspects of travel is found in the 
fact that we can scarcely find a new evil by traveling, but we can find 
much good that is new. Evil has a way of becoming cosmopolitan, like 
the small pox and the plague. But we must go over the hill and we shall 
find a new beauty. In the next state we shall see a better way of doing 
what we have been doing less well. In other lands we shall note customs 
and applications which are good but alien to us, yet worthy of adoption. 
If we can constantly remember that almost all knowledge is comparison, 
it is obvious that travel is fitted to increase knowledge more rapidly than 
any other means. A few years ago the high school graduates were in 
the habit of making a little expedition to Washington. It was our Ameri- 
can tour of the continent from Main Street. So far as it went, it was ex- 
cellent. A shut-in train, fog, smoke, the night and the back doors of 
cities, which are mostly seen on railways, did, however, occupy 2 great 
deal of the journey. Our main motor roads, however, pass over the bet- 
ter portions of our country. The immensity of the sea and its call to an 
undeveloped nature, and the solitude of mountains, awake the poetic in- 
stinct and broaden the imagination. The works of men as seen in travel 
lead us to think less of the importance and the merit of our own work. 
Thus travel is both stimulating and humbling. The imitative faculty is 
stirred by seeing what others do. Even a Chinaman is benefited by travel. 
The perfection of his art along certain lines has been such as to cause, if 
not to justify, a complacent satisfaction with his own civilization. The 
same fact is measurably true in parts of America. 

In spite of the largely transient and superficial impressions derived 


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by travelers who are not students, it is inevitable that a diffusion of in- 
formation beyond precedent is to result from the improvement of roads. 
_ The very fact that men are willing to vote the funds for building these 

roads speaks something of the purpose to which they intend devoting such 
improvements. ‘They intend to bring to their homes the best of what 
appeals to them of what they see in their journeys. It is a peculiarly 
American trait to consider that nothing is too good for the American 
family. He is a poor farmer or mechanic as well as a poor American, 
who does not think his own son and daughter worthy of a training 
such as the children of the wealthy receive. The larger public schools 
that will result from good roads, will have their merits and demerits, 
but we hope that the good will overtop the bad. 

The timid may say that it is time to call a halt in road building. Do 
they remember that we have not yet a decent highway, and some of the 
time not even a passable highway, from the north to the south, and from 
the east to the west? Particularly in Pennsylvania, where the land is so 
rich, the roads are bound to be poor except where modern construction has 
taken hold of them. A probable solution of what must be done with the 
heavy clay roads threading many rich districts in Pennsylvania, will be 
the construction of narrow roads of macadam leading to the trunk lines. 
Pennsylvanians think that at present New England is in advance of them 
in road building. The natural materials in New England often lie on 
the road itself; in fact, many of the roads, being of gravel, scarcely re- 
quire building. Our own judgment, after traveling over a multitude 
of Pennsylvania roads, is that the state is doing very well in its road 
building. It is true that some of the trunk lines are rather narrow. Now 
that vehicles are passing all the time, a double track is a continual necessity. 
However, where this is not feasible a hard even if rough bed at the sides 
of the finished highway is the proper solution. It prevents the necessity 
for a wide construction, which would be prohibitory on subordinate lines. 

It is most interesting to observe how certain districts, hitherto so re- 
mote as not to be known, are coming into public favor. 








PARKLIKE PENNSYLVANIA 255 


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PARKLIKE PENNSYLVANIA 


HE parks about Philadelphia are larger, or seem larger, than those 

about any other city. Also the natural beauty of the Schuylkill and 

the Wissahickon are such as to provide natural in addition to culture at- 

tractions. Many miles of softly charming aspects or of bold high bluffs 
are seen in the park environs of Philadelphia. 

The house of William Penn, a curious construction, valuable princi- 
pally for historic reasons, has been set up in Fairmount Park. Other old 
dwellings have been preserved. The city fathers had a long prevision 
when they provided these beautiful spaces, so decorated with trees and 
streams. 


256 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


Of late the extension of the park idea to the Roosevelt Boulevard, and 
in other directions, has been a stupendous work. Philadelphia is the most 
difficult city, in its retail district, in which to get about, that we know, but 
it is the most delightful city in its environs, to circuit. One may literally 
travel for days without seeing all that is worth while in the natural beauties 
of Philadelphia itself. We have, of course, omitted most of the park 
“ views” since they are done to death. But they are no less beautiful on 
that account. The planning of the drives and walks has engaged a great 
deal of attention for many years. Constant accessions are made, and the 
Cobb’s Creek district particularly has been lately developed. 

Let a metropolitan district as large as Philadelphia once begin to park 
its suburbs, the urge to go forward will be felt from various directions. 
One constantly says to oneself, “If this last stretch can be made so beauti- 
ful, why not carry it farther out into the country? ” We have only to 
extend the fever of road building a little, to make it a fever of beautiful 
parking. Happily even the selfish interests of those who wish to dispose 
of land help to forward the beautifying of the roadsides. The impetus 
being once given, we may hope that the natural beauties of Pennsylvania 
may tempt to a vast system of beautifying the whole state. “We under- 
stand that there is at present a corporate obstacle to the improvement of 
the stretch of road at the Water Gap. The public interest 1s too great to 
be thwarted here permanently. We hear that a long stretch of road on 
the Baltimore Pike towards Wilmington has been made feasible through 
private interest. At least we see that it has been completed worthily. 

Road building in Pennsylvania is not easy. There are many sharp 
pitches to overcome, necessitating permanent grades that are of doubtful 
wisdom owing to their steepness, or immensely expensive detours. The 
valleys of Pennsylvania run in long, sweeping lines, so that to cross from 
one to another often means a formidable climb. This is true from Beth- 
lehem south. Of course we look for conditions like these throughout the 
mountain districts. But everything that is worth while being done, will 
be done sometime. So vigorous has been the beginning, and so urgent is 





PARKLIKE PENNSYLVANIA 257 


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the spirit of the age, that we feel certain of a very general network of 
permanent roads through the country. Whether the country will have 
anything left to foot the bill, we are not so sure. Perhaps, when we are 
gone some other race may enjoy the works of the present harassed gen- 
eration. 

The system of connecting the parts of various cities by boulevards has 
in some instances, in America, reached a broad application. Happily, no 


258 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


one metropolis works alone. The teeming cities reach out their hands to 
one another and are gradually being linked by the gray, dustless high- 
ways. One who has come in from New York south of Binghamton 
through splendid roads that pass through Scranton and the south, will feel 
that his advantages over the previous generation are immense. 

The Philadelphian may drive to New York City, to Pittsburgh, to 
Williamsport, to Lancaster, under conditions so favorable for health and 
charm that he may be grateful for life in the twentieth century. As much, 
however, as all this means to him, the dweller in a smaller city is still 
more grateful. 

In seeking to make the district traversed by these roads parklike, we 
hope the mistake will not be made of over-refining the natural landscape. 
This has been done too much in the past. Many natural beauties have 
been spoiled because men took it for granted that they must imitate the 
cut turf of England in the more level counties. We see enough of cut 
turf about our own lawns to be glad to escape from it. A more careful 
negligence, if we may use the phrase, will prove far more grateful to 
the aesthetic sense. 

A large measure of the benefit of roads is seen in the improvements 
which they stimulate on private grounds. Most citizens feel a certain 
pride that their premises shall be presentable. When they find themselves 
suddenly upon a beautiful modern highway, the happy impulse is to be 
rid of the ugly features about their premises. The real use of a park is 
not to be found in itself alone, but rather in inducing persons on their 
private grounds to carry out the spirit of the park improvements. We 
have in mind a section of the parks in Providence, where lawns blend 
into the public grounds without any visible line of demarcation. In fact, 
the writer, dwelling in such a location, was often delighted by seeing a 
public flock of sheep coming up to his own window. All public improve- 
ments are stimulated by men of taste and patriotism. Other men, seeing 
this large object lesson, catch by reflex action, the spirit that has prompted __ 
parks. Of course, the outcome must sometime be a parklike state and a — y 








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GETTING THINGS DONE 263 


parklike country, wherein all outlooks shall be cleared of whatever is 
unsightly and beauty, either in a wilder or a more finished mood, shall 
appeal alternately and constantly to every traveler. The world is good 
enough, if we would not spoil it. It is unnecessary to improve on nature. 
We have only to be taught by her. It is in the great and populous states 
like Pennsylvania that this necessary beginning of an aesthetic world must 
be made. Where multitudes are well educated, and multitudes more are 
wealthy, we shall fairly expect long strides to be made toward a world 
all beautiful. Just at present this ideal may seem to lie an immense dis- 
tance away. We do not so think of it. Beginnings are always difficult, 
and what glorious beginnings have been made! We are doing things to- 
day along aesthetic lines and without much difficulty which would have 
required the propaganda of years to set in motion, a decade ago. 


GETTING THINGS DONE 


HE difficulty of getting great things done is merely a difficulty of 
education. The rapid diffusion of education by means of the news- 
paper, and even by the radio, encourages us to believe that the great body 
of the people can be induced to do greater things more easily than in the 
past. During the great war, there was a readier acceptance of the draft 
than has ever occurred in a previous instance in human history. This 
means, of course, a very strong and general taking hold by the people 
at large of good ideas. Consider the difficulty that arises in a small state 
of getting great things done. The lack of resources prevents a world 
wide taking up of a grand idea. In America let a great purpose once seize 
the great editorial writers, it will not be long before that purpose will 
be placed for contemplation in the homes of all Americans. The world 
has served its apprenticeship. The days of small things are past. We 
are in a position in America to do great things in a great way. Whatever 
the horrors of the past war, it illustrated this fact. 


264. PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


We are entirely at odds with the idea that life can be divided into 
categories. Anything that really lives is bound to take hold upon some- 
thing beyond itself. The reason why many people have rebelled against 
religion has been that the religion was too narrow. It did not take ac- 
count of and provide a place for the cosmos. A religion, however, that 
is too small to take in everything is too small to do good to anything. 
We should resent the idea that religion can be shut up to any particular 
space or to any particular department of life. Hitherto reformations have 
been attempted through emphasizing the independence of the individual. 
Future reformations must come about through the recognition of the unity 
of all nature. And in this definition “ nature ” must have the largest in- 
clusiveness. It must not be thought of merely as degraded, or as animal, 
but as the underlying fact in creation whose laws are felt everywhere. 
There have been times when certain societies of men have thought to 
make religion more pure by divesting it of beauty. One may as well say 
that the sunset does not need color. God has ever been too small in hu- 
man thought. That is because we are human, and inevitably our limited 
thoughts are limiting our God. We may make our church windows plain, 
but the color of the sunset will appear there, and the only beautyless spot 
is a windowless dungeon. 

The things done for the first time, which in themselves were good, 
and good in their effects, were we to make a catalog of them, would make 
a record such that all men might become optimists. See this fine bridge. 
It will build another one, and the two will build two more, and the 
four will build eight. Note this perfect cottage. Someone will copy it. 
Some arts, indeed, have been lost but a few have been discovered in the 
same time. What a variety of flowers exist in our gardens! How long 
a season the gardens have acquired! To achieve all this took time, and 
love, and patience. But time, and love, and patience were found, and 
they will be found for everything worth doing. 

[Text continued on page 276.| 


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SQUIRREL BRIDGE 


Written for picture on page 269 by Mitprep Hosss 


In El fland, in Elfland 

And through the Glen o? Dream 
The light of day is shimmering 
And silver waters gleam, 

And up and down the sky-way 
The leaves are weaving laces; 
In and out, in and out 

The shuttle-wind chases! 


In Elfland, in Elfland 

A slender bridge is swung 
Across the waters glimmering . 
Where tinkling bells are rung, 
And busy squirrels race there 
With beech-nuts in thew pouches, 
Back and forth, back and forth, 
To their winter couches! 


In Elfland, in El fland 

And through the Glen o? Dream 
The squirrels and the faerie folk 
Are playing by the stream! ‘ in 
On furry backs the wood sprites if ¢ 
Are riding slender spaces, an 
Tree folk and wee folk 
Under leafy laces! 


266 





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THE YOUNG: SUSQUEHANNA 


Written for the picture facing this page by Mitprep Hosss 


Where the Susquehanna sleeps 
Like a lovely child 

Cradled by the mountain-steeps, 
Pure and undefiled, 


In a robe of azure dressed — 
Silk without a seam— 
Holding lilies on her breast, 
Smiling in her dream, 


There the trees along the way 
Murmur lullabies 

Lest the low winds lower sway 
And unclose her eyes. 


Mossy is her velvet bed, 
Grasses hung with beads 
Curve above her sleeping head 
With the fringing reeds. 


Little sailboats painted gay, 
Toys forgot im sleep, 

Wait for her to wake and play, 
Make them dance and leap. 


But the Susquehanna gleams, 
Peaceful, undefiled, 

With the shadowed, sunlit dreams 
Of a lovely child. 


275 


276 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


BEAUTIFY PENNSYLVANIA 


N the course of our peregrinations some features worth making public 
as assets of beauty, and other features now unsightly which may be 
transformed, have suggested themselves. 

A little way south of Scranton on the way to the Poconos is the Cas- 
cade, on page 140. The spot is near the road. An old mill once existed 
here. The rapid below this little fall is charming. The fall itself passes 
through a fine rocky formation. Above, for a long distance, the stream 
glides swiftly over ledges and turns here and there (page 139). It is 
daintily draped with foliage. No dwellings exist very near at hand. The 
tract should be secured by the city of Scranton as a natural asset of beauty 
of much importance. There are cities in the great valley of the Mississippi 
that would consider this stream and its rocks a marvel to be obtained at 
any cost. We, who are favored by a residence in broken country, are too 
apt to overlook many fine features. 


THE CORN 


ICH brown earth, tending to red. A gentle dip, a gentle rise, re- 
peated to the foot of the hill. The field ploughed and prepared, 
mellow, and sweet, and deep. Expectant acres, hungry for seed. Under 
the deep cornice of the shed, a braid of well filled ears, repeated across 
the whole front. A farmer’s boy, barefoot, pacing steadily across the fur- 
rowed loam, and striking his planter at the proper intervals. The drench- 
ing rains of early May that wash out that boy’s footprints in the seeded 
earth. The tender green shoots rising in the long rows. The careful 
hoeing. The fight against weeds and frost and pests and drought. The 
green blades covering the earth. The sturdy serried ranks of August 
rustling and waving in conscious beauty and victory. The filling up of 


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THE CORN 294 


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A SAND GLASS 


the fine ears, each cased in many garments of green, from the outer cover 
to the delicate, almost white tissue layer against the kernels. The fine 
pale clustered strands of silk that hang from the tip of the ear, and de- 
pend as gracefully as the locks of the farmer’s daughter. The tall spikes, 
living crosses, held by every stalk in the field. The pollen sifting down- 
ward when the whispering breeze hints that the hour has come. The un- 
dulations of this living sea in the afternoon, and the dead silence of the 
fair field under the sunset. The white summer cloud looking down in 
communion, or the shower which covers all with clustered pearls. The 


278 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


mellowing of the autumn, when the tints change to yellow green, to gold, 
to russet. The full ear, ten-rowed, twelve-rowed, long, crowded, matt- 
surfaced with moisture, and colored to the despair of the artist. The cun- 
ning blending of sugar in the grain. A cluster of these ears, the acme of 
wealth and beauty and sentiment. The full harvest, the crown of the year. 
The glory of the cornfield in spring and summer and autumn, every day 
changing, every day becoming more perfect, every day telling new tales, 
stirring new dreams. The grain that greeted our first fathers in America 
and saved them from destruction; the noblest gift of the Indian to the 
world. 

As the youth and the maiden stand on the margin of the cornfield and 
pluck the roasting ears, indescribable by any other term than corn color, 
as they feel the fanning of the summer wind and hear the gentle laughter 
of the long, broad leaves, as they catch the glint of river, the tips of the 
forest trees, the gentle rounding of the hill crest, the sweet natural hollow 
in the field, the fences that the fathers built, and the dear old farm house 
and barn, they really stand at the centre of life. The corn is the symbol 
of the best in form, in color, in wealth, in beauty, in faith. ‘What to this 
is a vineyard, what to this is any other harvest whatever? The corn! A 
universal food, a perpetual beauty, a joy that renews itself. Pennsylvania 
may have its mines and its manufactures. It can never get away from 


the sentiment, the history, the symbolism and the delight of all that is 


packed so completely, with such deftness, in the green-gowned ear. 


THE ORCHARD 


ERHAPS a blossoming orchard means as much to the writer as it is 
likely to mean to anyone. For twenty-five years he has wandered 
through such orchards, eagerly looking for the stately old trees, the 
gnarled grace of the limbs, the perfect clusters of a branch. The rows 
along the field road or the wall, or the isolated trees that decorate the 





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THE ORCHARD 283 


sheds, the gables, or the gardens, have been the study of two decades. 
In a thousand forms, from four o’clock in the morning until eight at 
night, he has pictured and circled these assemblages of bursting life in its 
most beautiful form, its finest prophecy. In every quarter of America, 
as well as on the downs of England and by the roadsides of Brittany, and 
the flowering cones of the Pyrenees, he has loved and followed and lived 
with the blossoms. The orchard is nature’s sudden spring announcement 
_ that we live in a wonder world, a world as beautiful as anything can be, 
and promising something as luscious as the taste knows, — the health, the 
sentiment, the poetry and the hominess of the apple tree. 

He has here, however, a confession to make, which may shock. As 
exquisite as is the blossom, he feels that the thickly clustered, parti- 
colored, crowding, ripe, delicious great apples of October are a finer vision 
and a dearer mental stimulus than the spring affords. To stand on low 
steps, one’s body surrounded by this draping roof, and to gather the 
specimens one by one, so perfectly fitting the hand and so appealing in 
their waxy surface and in their rich coloring, into the cresting basket, until 
the apex of the arch is filled by one perfect specimen on which a single 
leaf, which could not bear to part with the fruit, is draped lovingly. 
This is autumn in her superlative mood. The long rays of a low sun, 
streaming through the invigorating air of October, and covering the entire 
hillside with a beauty blended from gold and crimson and green, this is 
a vision which sums up the year and rounds the fullness of her epic. | 

When, as often occurs, the apples are seen lying in richly colored heaps 
to await the curative airs and enriching sun, before being stored, teeming 
with a distillate of all the secrets and the beauties of the closing year, we 
have an autumn picture that is indeed superior to the blossoms of May. 
It is a lamentable fact that it is necessary to arrange this fruit in a certain 
form, and precision of size, and to place it directly under the eye of the 
city dweller before she will look at it, still less buy it. Why is it that 
we cannot believe in our own state, the witchery of our own sunshine, the 
alchemy of our own airs, the products of our own orchards? 


284 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


We need a crusade devoted, not to some distant land, but to the un- 
veiling of a Holy Land at home. Is there any reason why distant acres 
should be more beautiful than yours? Have not your fields, if they are 
ploughed in hope, and tended in prayer, and reaped in diligence, been made 
sacred by the use to which you may devote them? Are not these acres 
where the babies play and the youngsters run, richer in their significance 
and their moral possibilities, than any distant land? 

Why is not your brook, coming from a clean spring which your father 
faithfully cleared of rubbish and guarded by a stone parapet, why is not 
your brook, turning about the buttonwood bole, skirting the corner of the 
garden, as sacred as the streams of the Orient —as stimulating to every 
fine sentiment as the streams of Greece and Italy? 

Life becomes enriched by a keener and a deeper vision. It has in it 
an ample quota of all those noble elements necessary to adorn the thought 
of men, to mellow their souls, to form a physical setting of dignity and 
beauty. 

Every morning we need to think over again the story of the Holy 
Grail to get at the everyday fact that our dear. old mother, at the well 
under the buttonwood, has found our quest. Men are chasing in finance 
and geography, and in the imagination, to the ends of the earth, and are 
reaching to other worlds when they merely need to invite the thoughts 
which are felt in the bosom as a comfortable fire. As we look out over the 
valley and see its useful stream, its dividing fences, its various crops, and 
the places of their storage, we are seeing better things than appeared be- 
fore the eye of Virgil or of any of those who went before him. We have 
learned that no journey for a Golden Fleece is required. We have arrived 
at the last, best gift which the natural world has to offer, and that the 
spiritual world can offer at this period of human development. The 
main thing is to feel at home here, to work out our relations to the things 
which are around us, to give approved forms to the things that we touch, 
to impart grace and strength and to get to be in ourselves the reflexes of 
our own loves. 








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286 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


Why is not a maiden in a Pennsylvania valley, gathering the day lilies 
and the hydrangeas about her own door, and setting her house in order, 
why is she not potentially the last word in womanhood? If her touch is 
patient and her thoughts true to the fine things of life, why should any- 
body ride fast and far after distant graces or charms but little inferior 
to those on the old stone step under the pear tree? We should, it is true, 
like to see in Pennsylvania evidences of a somewhat daintier touch, and a 
translation of life into terms not so closely connected with the purse. The 
foundations are here. Let there be a shade more of that fine mood which 
enfolds all things with an ethereal grace, and translates all common life 
into uncommon delights. Prey: 


RAMBLING IMPRESSIONS 


have delighted in threading most of the roads from Bethlehem 
ip and Allentown southerly and southwesterly, where so many quaint 
old villages and farmsteads appear. This is, perhaps, the most interesting 
district in Pennsylvania to set forth old customs and a gentle rural charm. 
When the day is dull we confess to having had an eye out for the sign, 
“¢ Antiques.” We have found this district particularly rich in trammels 
and other fireplace furniture. Near Quakertown, having on that occasion 
a runabout with a very long, deep back compartment, we were able to fill 
it almost dangerously full with twisted link or saw-tooth or scrolled tram- 
mels, whose owners seemed glad to be rid of them at any figure. This 
wealth of early iron was found more or less in various neighborhoods as 
far as Reading, and including that point. On our last journey our in- 
quiries, however, were met by a shake of the head. We were informed 
that somebody who wrote books about iron and was writing a book about 


Pennsylvania had been around and gathered up so much that little that a | 


was good could be had! We blandly nodded and went on. It was good a 
to be accused of having had a prevision, for once. We were highly amused 





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288 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


some months later by finding that a committee of two Pennsylvanians was 
wandering about New England to learn how such Pennsylvania products 
were valued. If we have taken out of the side of Pennsylvania, when 
she was asleep, some beautiful creations, we are bound to say that Penn- 
sylvania is no longer asleep. We have even known of Pennsylvanians 
making pilgrimages to Boston and there purchasing cupboards which came 
from their own state. It is good that Pennsylvania now cherishes her own, 
though so many of her own have wandered far before she learned to clasp 
her children to her bosom. We love the Pennsylvanians for what they 
have done for us, or for what they have allowed us to do to them! 


THE STATELY HOMES OF PENNSYLVANIA 


HE Stately Homes of England were treated in a work of that name 

in a rather stately manner. It may be pertinent to treat the stately 
homes of Pennsylvania. We refer not so much to those well known his- 
toric houses, like the Chew Mansion, as to those splendid great dwellings 
which have risen in the last forty years in and around Philadelphia, such 
as the Wanamaker place and a sufficient number of others to fill a great 
volume. The objection to any immediate enterprise of this sort is partly 
the lack of mellowness which is a necessary predicate of these homes. 
Further, they have not exhibited so great a variety in planning and in style 


as we might suppose the versatility of the American people would demand. 


Their style is for the most part good. The bad architecture of Pennsyl- 
vania consists for the most part in the homes of more moderate size, which 
have attempted to cover themselves with the merits of all styles, and which 
therefore have the merit of none. To our thought, the finest type of a 
permanent home is that which follows the Tudor or Elizabethan motive. 
It is at once solid, dignified and amply lighted. Its window decoration is 
very satisfactory, and its roof lines give a fine impression, even from a 
distance. The abundant materials for such dwellings should foster their 





STATELY HOMES OF PENNSYLVANIA 289 






















































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erection, and we have no doubt the coming decade will see a great number 
erected. In this process, such is the present alertness of architects, and so 
rich is the region of Philadelphia in architects of fine taste and large ex- 
perience, that we are not in doubt as to the outcome of the present era of 
building. We shall have many examples in which the last detail will be 
worked out with fidelity to the best principles. There is no joy to which 
we look forward with more avid imagination than to the privilege of ex- 
amining such homes as they rise. 


290 PENNSYLVANIA BEAUTIFUL 


PENN AND PENNSYLVANIA 


HE name of Pennsylvania is poetic and attractive. The state began 
with idealism and with a touch of poetry. There was, ostensibly 
and, to a great degree, in reality, a worthy ideal to be fostered as well as 
a living to be obtained. We like to think that Penn was willing to ad- 
venture in the New World without the certainty of a return. It is idle 
to say that as his grant was far more valuable than its cost to him, even 
after he had dealt with the Indians, that therefore it was a huge financial 
deal. There were other ways in which Penn could have used his prop- 
erty in England. With his court entrée the rates of interest were not 
small, and opportunities for investment were good. Penn really came to 
the New World largely, at least, for religious reasons. It is something, 
therefore, that the state was based upon a motive sometimes absent from 
new enterprises. The outcome proved that Penn in his life-time paid 
heavily for his idealism. His sons, who were altogether smaller, narrower 
men, reaped where he sowed. ; 
For all purposes now, thinking of Pennsylvania as a state of mind as 
well as a geographical location, we want to connect, as far as there is any 


connection, the idea of the beautiful land that Penn loved, with the pres- « 


ent. It was probably not a time when landscapes were as much thought 
of as they are today. In fact, even when Benjamin West made the famous 
picture of the treaty under the elm, Penn, being a trifle stout, is as large 


as the tree, and West has been deservedly criticized that he has not shown ‘i 


a magnificent elm, as he had every opportunity of doing. Thus scenery 
was not in the eye of the founder or his immigrants, the first, or even the 
secondary item in their thoughts. But incidentally, good land, like a good 


horse, is beautiful. The wealth of the trees and the streams, the almost _ 


tropic tangle of the vines must have made the state marvellously beautiful. 
Even today the picture on page 267 suggests the tropics. The marvel- 


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PENN AND PENNSYLVANIA 295 


such as Penn found, bore in upon him the fact that he was the proprietor 
of country rich in beauty, as in all other particulars. But it is the idealism 
of Penn, leaping over the sordid money-getting of his sons, that is worth 
while recalling and applying in Pennsylvania today. The Society of the 
Friends has suffered much contumely through the centuries. Even the 
biographer of Penn, or one of them, goes out of his way to hit rather 
bitterly at sincere men as, when he says, for instance, that money seems to 
gravitate to martyrs. A bon mot without the shadow of an excuse, be- 
yond the irresistible desire to say a bright thing. We wonder what class 
of men of whatsoever religious denomination, or of no denomination at all, 
does not offer a fair butt to ridicule? Dignity itself is always mimicked 
behind its back by the small boy. The great central fact remains that 
George Fox enunciated several beautiful and eternal ideas, possibly car- 
ried to an extreme, but no less good. Penn thought of Pennsylvania as 
a vale of peace; no doubt he prayed that it might be so. Nor was he 
alone in this. It proved necessary, at last, to defend the vale. But the 
thought of a state made beautiful by serene living, a kind of garden for a 
friend of God, where God might meet him in the cool of the day, is a 
thought that we trust may not die. Consciously or otherwise, in the minds 
of all men, good or bad, there are working suggestions caught through the 
idealism of other ages. Penn roamed these forests, learned the Indian 
tongue, and has left us the finest description of Indian life, according to 
Buell, that appeared from an Englishman in the full century during which 
it was written. He found the Indian before he had been corrupted by 
the white man, and he described and admired many fine features of the 
Indian character. He loved the forests for their own sake and he had in 
him the strong English delight in park lands. What we hope, and what 
we think we have reason to hope is that there is a sufficient vitality in 
certain ideas of Penn to survive the generations, and to blossom forth in 
a material way in the Pennsylvania landscape. That is to say, we are 
carrying out in our parking, and in our highways, and in our delightful 
homes just what Penn himself would have liked to do. 


A QUAKER LOVE SONG 


By Mitprep Hosgss 


For thee and me the forests sing, 

And for thy feet the meads are flecked 
With dainty flowerage of Spring, 

And trees are decked! 


And when I see thee strolling down 
A blossom-bowered road in May, 
Soft petals falling to thy gown 

Of Quaker gray, 


Trimming thy spotless snowy cap 
With color bright to match thy cheek, 
I would with all the birds, mayhap, 
Thy beauty speak. 


For if the Lord adorn His trees 

And verdant fields with flowers gay, 
Shouldst thou His mood the better please 
In sombre gray? 


The forest sings for thee and me! 
And orchard canopies have tried 
To make a petal robe for thee, 
My Quaker bride! 


2096 





INDEX 


Allentown, 105, 286. 

Ambler, 55, 56, 116. 

Angels, 60. 

Apples, 283. 

Apple Trees, 118, see also Blossoms. 
Approaching the Lock, 11. 
Architectural Features, 7, 21, 27. 
Architecture, 222, 231, 232, 288, 289. 
Architecture, English, 224. 
Architecture, German, 232. 
Architecture, Georgian, 27. 

Artists, 188, 234, 243, 244. 

Artist’s Nook, An, 157. 

Aspen Rapids, 239. 

Autumn, In, 71. 

Autumn Leaves, 60. 

Aviation for Scenery, 95. 


Ballard, 194. 

Baltimore Pike, 28, 29, 256. 

Bangor, 94. 

Barns, 7, 9, 20, 28, 31, 32) 34) 41, 60, 73, 85, 
Oty 105, 212. 

Barnyards, 214. 

Bear Creek, 91. 

Beautify Pennsylvania, 276. 

Beauty, Love of, 234. 

Beauty Spots Here and There, 190. 

Bellows, 156. 

Berks County, 115, 199. 

Bethany, 60, 98. 

Bethlehem, 30, 98, 115, 117, 164, 189, 192, 
TOO 201, 250,257; 286, 

Betty Lamps, see Fat Lamps. 

Bible in Iron, The, 129. 

Binghamton, 258. 

Black Horse Tavern, 28, 29, 136. 

Blossoms, 11, 18, 23, 47, 48, 68, 79, 87, 90, 
Perego, ai09, 112, 114, 119, 122, 143, 
134, 141, 143, 145, I51, 152, 153, 163, 
165, 166, 167, 172, 175, 176, 184, 185, 
195-198, 203-218, 236, 238, 240, 247-250, 
260, 261, 283. 

Boats, Canal, 188. 

Boston, 288. 

Boxes, Carved, 31. 

Boxes, Turned, 211. 

Boyertown, 115, 166, 167, 197, 199) 229. 


207 


Bradford County, 61. 

Brandywine, 42, 45, 125) 173) 174) 196. 

Bread Tray, 155. 

Brick, 220, 232. 

Bridal Wreath, 23. 

Bridges, 12, 41, 50, §6, 67, 86, 116, 174, 183, 
188, 196, 199, 206, 229, 230, 235) 2475 
264, 270. 

Brittany, 283. 

Brodhead Creek, 14, 228, 237. 

Brown House, 40, 65, 110. 

Buck Hill, 66, 83, 86, 99, 195, 207. 

Buckingham, 149. 

Bucks County, 85, 102, 129, 219. 

Buell, 295. 

Building, Era of, 245. 

Building, Public, 224. 

Buildings, Public, 234. 

Building, Road, 245, 254, 256. 

Bushkill, 66, 75, 83. 

Buttonhole Cutter, 156, 233. 

Buttonwoods, 14, 24, 40, 132, 176, 216, 284. 


Canadensis, 91, 205. 

Canals, 11, 55, 121, 188, 189, 261, 262. 

Canals, Development of, 190. 

Candle Molds, 200, 225. 

Cart ‘Path, 263: 

Carving, 231. 

Cascades, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77) 78, 80, 81, 82, 
84,895 Fis 99; TOO, 302, 307, 10s. 332, 
113, 120, 121, 134, 139) 140, 141, 142), 
146, 161, 171, 175, 178, 195, 197) 207) 
237, 259, 268, 272, 273, 279, 280, 282. 

Cascade, The, 140, 276. 

Cattle, 45, 212. 

Ceiling Lights, 156. 

Cement, 220, 222, 245. 

Cemetery, 52, 289. 

Central America, 190. 

Chad’s Ford, 45, 67, 125, 247. 

Chairs, 150, 156. 

Chair Industry, 234. 

Chairs, Windsor, 156. 

Changes, in Pennsylvania Life, 220. 

Cheese Making, 219. 

Cherry Blossoms, 210, 238. 

Chester County, 119 (West Chester for County 


298 


an Error), 124, 143, 145, 165, 166, 176, 
177, 183, 196, 198, 203, 209, 215, 216, 


217) 235) 237) 247) 249. 

Chester, Old, 53, 124, 127, 163, 192, 200. 
Chests, 32, 150, 287. 

Chests, English, 31. 

Chew Mansion, 288. 

Chimneys, 29, 30, 192. 

China, 234. 

China, Love of Home in, 168. 
Chinese, 178, 179, 214, 251. 
Chinese, Worship of Beauty by, 179. 
Churches, 33, 104, 117, 128, 189, 229, 255. 
Cloister, the Ephrata, 52, 125. 

Coal, 61,. 220, 222. 

Cobb’s Creek, 57, 167, 255. 
Collegeville, 116. 

Combination Cooking Utensil, 244. 
Companions, 242. 

Conestoga, 106, 172, 176. 
Conestoga, Little, 216, 241. 
Conestoga Wagon, 106, 219. 
Construction, Municipal, 223. 
Copper, 158. 

Coopersburg, 255. 

Corn, 102, 104, 192, 276, 277, 278. 
Cottages, see Houses. 

Countryside, 19. 

Court House, Old Chester, 127. 
Cradles, 148. 

Creeks, see Streams. 

Cupboards, 136, 148. 


Dairy, 219. 

Damascus, 60. 

Dams, 167, 280. 

Decoration, Love of, 20. 

Decoration, on Barns, see Barns. 

Decorative Arts, 147; see also Houses, 

Delaware Canal, 11, 188. 

Delaware County, 124, 261. 

Delaware River, 21, 27, 48, 56, 66, 94, 226, 
227, 

Dingman’s, 72. 

Dogwood, 145. 

Door Heads, 29. 

Doors, 30, 163, 164, 192. 

Doors, of Barns, 28, 31. 

Doors, Dutch, see Dutch Doors. 

Doylestown, 18. 

Dream Lane, 51. 

Drepperd, Carl W., 104, 199. 

Drives, 16, 18, 186. 

Ducks, 214. 

Durham, 38, 44, 70. 

Dust, 224. 


INDEX 


Dutch, 7, 21, 160, 224, 231, 243. 

Dutch Doors, 9, 28. 

Dutch Motives, 150. 

Dwellings, 20, 27, 162, 192, 199, 220, 222. 
Dwellings, Lack of Picturesque, 180. 


Early Settlements, 21. 

Easton, 16, 55, 94, 188. 

Egypt, 190. 

Electrical Heat, 222, 224. 

Elliott, John, 160, 162. 

Elms, 131. 

England, 258, 283, 290. 

English, 27, 168, 222, 224, 231, 232. 
Ephrata, 41, 98, 125, 289. 
Explanatory, 3 


Fairmount Park, 243. 

Falls, see Cascades. 

Family, 179. 

Farmer’s Wife, The Pennsylvania, 123. 

Farming, 96, 97, 98, 103, 212, 219. 

Farms, 8, 10, 19, 20, 34, 59, 98, 192, at 
see Farming. 

Farms, Abandoned, 102, 138. 

Fat Lamps, 156. 

Feather Beds, 214. 

Features of the Homestead, 212. 

Fences, 7, 20, 165, 167, 175, 184, 185, 192, 
196, 197, 205, 210, 240, 247, 249, 261, 
293. 

Fine Arts, in Pennsylvania, 243. 

Firearms, 156. 

Fireplace, 70, 136, 156. 

Fishing Seat, A, 248. 

Flapjack Turners, 158. 

Forebays, 31, 32. 

Foreigners, in Pennsylvania, 220. 

Forest Stair, A, 66, 279. 

Forge, An Ancient, 218. 

Forges, Old, 199. 

Forks, 158, 160. 

Fox, George, 295. 

Franklin County, 52. 

French, 168, 224, 231. 

Friends, 10, 27, 149, 226, 295. 

Frisian, 231. 

Fuel, 222. 

Fulton, Robert, 40, 88. 

Furniture, 7, 32, 147, 148, 150, 156. 

Furniture of the Pilgrim Century, Set 211. 

Furniture Makers, 234. 


Galilee, 60, 98. 
Gardens, 222, 264, 283. 
Gateways, 167, 204, 205, 210. 








INDEX 


Geese, 214. 

Geographic Magazine, 95. 

Germans, 7, 27, 52, 115, 150, 168, 224, 226, 
2h 

German Speech, 19. 

Germantown, 162, 231. 

Getting Things Done, 263. 

Gettysburg, 13, 192. 

Glass, 155, 234. 

Great Bend, 62, 274, 275. 

Greece, 284. 

Griddles, 156. 

Griddles, Suspended, 156. 


Halford, John H., 287. 

Hallstead, 61. 

Hardware, 19, 40, 156, 158, 159, 180, 193. 

Hay Cutters, 158. 

Hazy Mirror, A, 242. 

Heating, Method of, 222. 

Hebron, 98. 

Hessians, 231. 

Hiawatha, 60. 

Hickory Grove, 61. 

Highboys, 150. 

Highways, 222, 245, 254, 258. 

Hobbs, Mildred, 22, 42, 51, 71, 92, 135, 170, 
182, 202, 266, 275, 296. 

Home, 168, 179, 180, 187. 

Home, Protection of, 168. 

Home, Study of, 187. 

Homesteads, see Houses. 

Honesdale, 54, 159. 

“Horses, 219: : 

Household Decorations, 7. 

Houses, 18, 21, 23, 39) 53, 63, 69, 88, 108, 
119, 129, 137, 165, 167, 168, 187, 192, 
204, 206, 232, 236, 240, 264, 288, 289. 

Houses, Construction of, 38, 39, 40, 136, 138, 
S222). 

Houses, Log, 118. 

Houses, Stone, 7, 29. 

Housewife, 20, 211. 

Huguenots, 27, 224, 231. 


Independence Hall, 120, 162. 

Indian Ladder Falls, 74, 89, 92. 

Indians, 290, 295. 

Ink Well and Penknife, Combination, 201, 
211, 232. 

Intellect, Pride of, 251. 

Iron, 19, 20, 27, 199, 220; see Hardware. 

Iron, Hand Wrought, 212. 

Italian Edifices, 220. 

Italians, 224. 

Italy, 220, 284. 


299 


Jail, A Decorated, 115, 152. 
Jordan, 98. 


Kenilworth, 34. 

King of Prussia, 117. 

Kitchen Creek, 64, 66, 268, 269, 271. 
Kitchens, 70, 118, 156. 

Kittatinny Range, 94. 

Knitting, 212. 


Lackawanna County, 61, 62, 164. 

Ladles, 158. 

Lafayette College, 252. 

Lafayette Headquarters, 119, 125. 

Lake and Hill, 230. 

Lakes, 59. 

Lancaster, 33, 258. 

Lancaster County, 40, 79, 82, 105, 110, 116, 
143, 176, 186, 218, 219, 236, 299. 

Landscapes, 10. 

Lanes, 87, 236, 238. 

Lanesboro, 270. 

Language, 7, 27, 52. 

Lantern on the Plough, The, 19. 

Latches, 159, 160, 211, 223. 

Latch Strings, 159. 

Leap of the Lehigh, The, 170. 

Leather, 214. 

Lebanon, 3, 41, 186, 238, 292. 

Lehigh County, 9, 63, 73. 

Lehigh River, 91, 110, 170, 171. 

Lehman, Peter, 52. 

Levis Fall, 91. 

Links, 15. 

Limestone, 34. 

Locks, 159, 193. 

Long Island, 8. 

Looking Glasses, 160. 

Loom-stool, 156. 

Luxury, Objection to, 243. 

Luzerne County, 61, 91, 110, 111, 197) 204, 


259, 272, 273) 279, 282. 


Mahogany, 234. 

Man and Nature, 96. 
Maryland, 234. 
Massachusetts, 243. 

Meeting Houses, 21, 27, 149. 
Mennonites, 7. 

Mennonite Meeting Houses, 21, 255. 
Mercer, Dr., 129. 
Mesopotamia, 190. 

Miller, Peter, 53. 

Mills, Flour, 116. 
Mississippi, 276. 

Monocacy, 115. 


300 


Monocacy Shallows, 12. 

Monroe County, 66, 71, 72, 141. 

Montague, William B., 156, 158. 

Montgomery County, 24, 26, 49y 93, 116, 123, 
129, 172, 185, 196, 204, 208, 236. 

Montrose, 62. 

Moosic Range, 60. 

Moravians, 7, 27, 117, 192, 224, 243. 

Mountains, 60. 


Nanticoke, 62, 282. 

New England, 20, 27, 31, 156, 219, 234) 254. 
New Hope, 157, 188, 253, 261, 262. 

New Jersey, 27, 28, 160, 213, 226, 234. 

New Milford, 62. 

Newspapers, Diffusion of Education by, 263. 
New York, 21, 234, 243, 258. 

Nouisiowi 18, 116. 

Nunnery, 52. 


October, 283. 

Ohio, 234. 

Orchard Beauty, 202. 

Orchards, 228, 278, 283. 
Ornaments on Barns, 28. 
Outbuildings, of a Farmhouse, 214. 
Oven, Bee Hive, 27. 

Overarched, 208. 


Paradise Falls, 84. 

Paradise Valley, 38, 85, 91. 

Parklike Pennsylvania, 255. 

Parks, 255, 256, 258. 

Pastorals, 45. 

Pause at the Bridge, A, 206. 

Penn, William, 21, 27, 224, 226, 290, 295. 

Penn, William, House of, 255. 

Pennsbury, 226. 

Penn’s Woods, 184. 

Pennsylvania, 7, 290. 

Pennsylvania Journal, 160. 

Pennsylvania Museum, 150, 160. 

Pennsylvanian, Typical, 19, 21. 

Pequa Creek, 106. 

Perfect Day, A, 62, 294. 

Perkiomen River, 12, 15, 25, 26, 35, 36, 46, 
50, 67, 116. 

Pewter, 156. 

Philadelphia, 8, 16, 46, 50, 57, 90, 120, 137, 
162, 167, 168, 179, 192, 234, 243, 2545 
255, 280, 288, 289, 292. 

Philemon, Bruder, 52, 289. 

Phoenixville, 23, 117. 

Pie Scallopers, 200, 233. 

Pig Catchers, 158. 

Pigeon Brook Banks, 13. 


INDEX 


Pike County, 66, 71, 72. 

Pipe Tongs and Steel, 232. 

Pipe Tube, 225. 

Pittsburgh, 258. 

Plowing, 219. 

Plymouth Meeting, 116. a 

Pocono, 63, 72, 73, 78, 81, 82, 87, 90, 915 Ps 
IOI, 107, 108, 109, I11, 113, 114, 120, ae 
134, 139, 141, 175, 230, 238, 276. 

Poems, 22, 42, 51, 71) 92) 135, 170, 182, 202, 
266, 275, 296. 

Pools, 50, 58, 70, 111, 236. 

Port Jervis, 66, 94. 

Pottery, 234. 

Pottstown, 34. 

Pottsville, 119, 205. 

Pride, Local, 21. 

Prompton, 270. 

Providence, 258. 

Public Improvements, 258. 

Pumpkins, 69, 192, 193, 194. 

Pump Spout, 158, 201. 

Pyrenees, 283. 






Quaint Work Table, 191, 200. 
Quaker, see Friends, 

Quaker Love Song, A, 296, 
Quakertown, 115, 286. 
Quarryville, 40, 106. 

Quilting Frames, 211. 


Racial Elements and Aesthetics, 224. 

Radio, 263. 

Rambling Impressions, 286. - 

Rapids, 178, 228, 239, 276. 

Readings 15, 33) 115; 167, 173, 199, 
2 ° 

Religion, 226, 264, 290, 295. 

Rhode Island, 27. 

Rittenhouse, David, 93, 194. 

Rittenhouse, David, Birthplace, 93, 194. af 

Rivers, 35, 36, 60, 62, 91, 93, 106, 159, 172, - 
173) 174, 196, 227, 230, 235, 248, 275, 
281, 282, 293. a 

River Bank, The, 159. ee. 

Roads, 7, 14, 16, 47, 68, 90) 93, 100, 114, 
132, 134) 135) 144, 152-4) 167, 175, 183, 
184, 185, 195, 197, 199, 200, 205, 208, 
209, 210, 215, 216, 228, 230, 240, 
247) 249, 250, 251, 254, 257, 258, 261, — 
275) 293. ' 

Roads, and Parks, 244. : 

Roads, Improvements of Private Grounds i 
Caused by, 258. 

Roads, in New England, 254. 

Roads, Lack of Good, 226, 


Robin Hood’s Bank, 281. 
Rolling Pins, 158. 

Roofs, 222. 

Roosevelt Boulevard, 21, 255. 
Rugs and Carpets, 234. 


St. Peter’s Church, 33, 104. 
Salemville, 52. 

Sand Glasses, 158, 277. 

Sandstone, 34. 

Savery, 150, 234. 

Saylorsburg, 94. 

Schuylkill, 34, 117, 167, 173, 198. 
Scranton, 63, 112, 258, 276. 
Scythes, 158. 
Set of Chest Hardware, A, 180, 212. 
Seventh Day Baptists, 52. 

Shakers, 52. 

Sharon, 98. 

School House at New Hope, 188, 253. 
Sheep, 214, 258. 

Shickshinny, 61. 

Shutters, 30. 

Sickles, 158. 

Silos, 41. 

Skimmers, 158. 

_ Skippack Creek, 43, 116, 131. 
Sladen, Charles N., 161, 169, 252. 
Slip Ware, 155. 

Snow Hill Institute, 52. 

Spinning, 212. 

Spoon Racks, 160, 257, 265. 
Spring House, 219. 

Spring Valley, 50. 

Squirrel Bridge, A, 64, 266, 269. 
Starlight, 60. 

Starruca, 61. 


INDEX 


Stately Homes of Pennsylvania, The, 288. 


Steel, 20, 199, 220. 

Steel, To Strike on Flint, 211. 
Stiegel, 156, 234. 
Stoddardsville, gr. 

Stoves, Charcoal, 156. 
Strawberry Blossoms, 199, 249. 


Perea Tt, 954, 24, 15) 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 
36, 37, 38, 43, 44) 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 56, 


57, 63, 67, 68, 88, 91, 100, 115, 116, 


22, 
169, 
186, 
216, 


239) 


131, 
172, 
197, 
217, 
241, 


143) 
173) 
198, 
218, 


144, 
176, 
209% 
228, 


161, 
178, 
206, 
230, 
2495 
276, 


164, 
183, 
208, 
2375 
267, 
280, 


145) 
177) 
204, 
229); 
242, 247, 248, 
269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 
284, 290, 291, 292, 294. 
Stroudsburg, 44, 108, 


118, 
167, 
185, 
209, 
238, 
268, 
281, 


Stucco, 220. 

Suburban Home Drive, 293. 

Sunbury, 62. 

Sun Dials, 158. 

Susquehanna County, 54, 60, 61, 192. 


301: 


Susquehanna River, 60, 62, 93, 199, 248, 274, 


275) 293: 
Swarthmore, 200, 267, 291. 
Swedes, 7, 21, 224, 226, 231. 


Tables, 150. 

Talking Water, 161. 

Tatamy, 30, 192. 

Toasters, 156. 

Todyhanna, 91. 

Trammels, 136, 286. 

Travel, 251. 

Travel, Educational Value of, 246. 
Traveling, by Automobile, 245, 246. 
Trenton, 234. 

Trivets, 156. 

Tulip Design, 150, 156. 
Tunkhannock, 61, 62. 


Utensils, 19, 20, 155, 158, 200, 244. 


Valley Forge, 
246. 

Vehicles, 7, 219. 

Villages, 10. 


Ee LL ove Taos LOO, 


Wagons, 158, 214, 219. 
Walls, 222. 

Walls, Decorated, 160. 
Walls, Stone, 209, 245, 250. 
Walnut, 234. 

Wanamaker, 288. 


229), 


Washington Church, Valley Forge, 128, 229. 


Washington, D. C., 251. 
Washington, George, 53, 246. 
Water Bench, 155. 
Waterfalls, see Cascades. 


Water Gap, 56, 93, 94, 95, 163, 199, 227) 


256. 
Water Table, 28. 
Watering Troughs, Stone, 27. 


Wayne County, 54, 59, 271, 280, 281, 294. 


Waynesboro, 52. 

Wealth, of Pennsylvania, 244. 
Weaving, 212. 

Weaving Stool, 285. 
Weaving Stool End, 221. 
Wells, 40, 214. 

West, Benjamin, 290. 


West Chester, 70, 109, 114, 124, 125, 126, 


133) 156, 200, 


302 


Wilkes Barre, 61, 62, 63, 76, 93. 
Williams, Roger, 27. 
Williamsport, 258. 

Wilmington, 226, 256. 

Wind Gap, The, 94. 

Winona, 66, 74, 76, 80, 100, 178. 
Wissahickon, 17, 58, 167. 

Witch Foot, 28, 97. 





INDEX 






Wool, 214. 
Wyoming County, 62. 
Yarn Reel, 212, 213. 
Yokes, 158. Bote. 
Young Leaves, 241. 


Young Susquehanna, The, 62, 27 
eed fa 134, 165, 167, 1 : 





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